Pakistan have been knocked out of the T20 World Cup 2026. Their departure allows New Zealand to secure the final semi-final position from Super Eight Group 2. Pakistan’s exit was sealed when Sri Lanka reached 148 while pursuing their target of 213. The Salman Agha-captained team won the match by 5 runs and concluded with the same three points as the Blackcaps, however New Zealand’s superior Net Run Rate enabled them to progress to the semi-finals. Previously, Sahibzada Farhan delivered a remarkable century while Fakhar Zaman contributed a blistering fifty as Pakistan accumulated 212 for 8 across 20 overs after being asked to bat first in Pallekele. The pair combined for 176 runs – establishing the tournament’s highest opening stand. Farhan struck 100 from 60 deliveries, becoming the inaugural player to register two centuries within a single tournament edition, while Fakhar contributed 84 from 42 balls. During Sri Lanka’s run chase, captain Dasun Shanaka produced an exceptional knock – 76 not out from 31 deliveries – featuring one four and three consecutive sixes off Shaheen Afridi in the closing over, though he could not guide his team to victory. Farhan And Fakhar Put A good Show But Not Enough For Semi Final Spot .
TOSS-
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field.
PLAYING XI-
Pakistan (Playing XI):
Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Khawaja Nafay, Usman Khan(w), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq
Sri Lanka (Playing XI):
Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara(w), Charith Asalanka, Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka(c), Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka
PAKISTAN-
Sri Lanka chose to field after winning the toss. Facing elimination, Pakistan made strategic alterations by excluding Saim Ayub and Babar Azam. Fakhar Zaman was elevated to open the batting, and this decision proved highly effective as he commenced aggressively. Sahibzada Farhan maintained his exceptional form, and both openers advanced rapidly to exploit Sri Lanka’s inconsistent bowling attack, which struggled to establish proper line and length initially. They surpassed 50 runs within the first five overs while Farhan established a new milestone with a hook shot to the fine leg boundary, eclipsing Virat Kohli’s record for most runs scored in a single Men’s T20 World Cup edition. The aggressive batting continued beyond the Powerplay period, with Sri Lanka’s fielding performance proving detrimental through numerous dropped opportunities.
Both batsmen achieved their fifties, with Fakhar momentarily outpacing Farhan despite being dropped at long off. Farhan appeared to be dismissed, only for the fielder to make contact with the boundary rope. The partnership eventually reached 176 – establishing a new record for any wicket in T20 World Cup history, before concluding when Fakhar deflected the ball onto his stumps. Khawaja Nafay and Shadab Khan received batting promotions, though this strategy proved unsuccessful despite Farhan completing his second tournament century.
Pakistan lost momentum during the final overs, surrendering five wickets across the concluding two overs. Dilshan Madushanka emerged as the standout bowler, claiming three wickets while the pace attack focused on yorker deliveries. Sri Lanka’s fielding difficulties finally ceased as they successfully converted their remaining chances.
SRI LANKA-
Pakistan scored 212 runs and surely needed to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 runs or less to qualify for the semi-finals. Moreover, this target was essential for their tournament progression. Sri Lanka’s chase began badly when Pathum Nissanka stepped back and completely misjudged Naseem Shah’s slower ball, further chipping it straight to extra cover. The dismissal itself showed poor shot selection under pressure. Kamil Mishara hit the ball through gaps against Shaheen Afridi and started well, while Naseem itself changed his bowling speed further to trouble the batsmen. Abrar Ahmed surely made an immediate impact by dismissing Mishara with his very first ball. Moreover, this early breakthrough proved that his introduction into the attack was perfectly timed. Also, a run-out chance was missed on the last ball of the fifth over, and Asalanka hit a six to end the Powerplay. As per the situation, Sri Lanka was still behind but the match remained interesting.
Pakistan actually had to bring in Usman Tariq much earlier this time, which was definitely different from what they did before. We are seeing Asalanka attack the spinner with only one four and one six. Khawaja Nafay dropped a difficult catch at cover and we are seeing that this gave Asalanka another chance, but Asalanka only hurt his hand when he dived later in the same over. As per the next ball, Abrar got him out by hitting the stumps, and the mystery spinner took his third wicket to keep Pakistan’s hopes alive regarding the match, even as Pavan Rathnayake hit many boundaries.
Rathnayake actually made Pakistan pay for missing the run-out chance, hitting boundaries to definitely reduce the gap that could eliminate Pakistan. Janith Liyanage could not contribute much, but Shanaka came in and stabilized the innings with Rathnayake, and the pair further attacked to build the score itself. Rathnayake hit two sixes against Shadab Khan to complete his fifty runs, and soon after Sri Lanka reached 148 runs to win the match against Pakistan. As per the match situation, this score was enough regarding Pakistan’s earlier total.
The co-hosts surely required 62 runs from the remaining four overs, and moreover, they needed 46 runs from the final two overs. While it looked difficult, Shanaka had different plans and hit Shadab for two big sixes to further strengthen his team’s position itself. The team actually needed 28 runs from the last over, and Afridi definitely had to bowl just two good balls. As per the bowling performance, Shanaka hit one four and three sixes in a row regarding the slot deliveries, which made the Pallekele crowd very excited. As per the match situation, Shanaka tried a strange reverse-ramp shot regarding his batting approach but it did not work. The last ball was going near the wide line only and Shanaka left it, but the umpire called it a good ball, so we are seeing the Sri Lankan captain looking very sad as his team lost.
Brief Scores:
Basically Pakistan scored 212 runs and Sri Lanka made 207 runs, so Pakistan won by 5 runs in the same 20-over match.
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