Pakistan Eliminated from T20 World Cup; Sri Lanka Defeated as New Zealand Advances to Semis

KANDY:

Pakistan have been knocked out of the T20 World Cup 2026. They failed to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 runs or fewer while defending the total of 212 runs. Pakistan needed to win by 65 runs or more to surpass New Zealand in terms of net run-rate, but they couldn’t. New Zealand have now qualified for the semifinal of the T20 World Cup and will meet South Africa on March 4 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

As far as the match is concerned, Pakistan won by only five runs, 60 fewer than they needed to make it to the knockouts. The fact that Sri Lanka got so close was due to their captain, Dasun Shanaka, who batted extremely well and singlehandedly almost defeated Pakistan with his 76-run blitzkrieg off 31 balls with two fours and eight sixes.

Sri Lanka needed 46 runs off the last two overs, but he brought the equation down to six runs off the last two deliveries. He smashed three consecutive sixes off Shaheen Afridi in the final over, but the latter delivered two dots somehow, landing his deliveries in the right areas.

Earlier, Pavan Rathnayake also played a brilliant knock of 58 runs off 37 balls that helped Sri Lanka go past the 147-run mark and knock Pakistan out of the tournament. 

Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar blow Sri Lanka away but Pakistan collapse

Earlier in the game, Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman blew Sri Lanka away with their 176-run opening partnership. Sri Lanka failed to pick up a wicket for 15.5 overs, with the former notching up a century while Fakhar smashed 84 runs off 42 balls. But Pakistan collapsed at the fag end of the innings to lose eight wickets for 36 runs in just 25 balls, much to the disappointment of their fans.

The collapse, eventually, cost them the tournament as Pakistan couldn’t post a total in excess of 225, which looked possible at one stage. Pakistan being knocked out has ended the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka as both semifinals will now be played in India. South Africa will face New Zealand at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 4 while England will face either India or West Indies in the second semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

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