Pakistan National Cricket Team vs England Cricket Team Match Scorecard: The Complete Rivalry Breakdown

Harry Brook hadn’t crossed 20 runs against spin in four straight T20I innings heading into Pallekele. Then his coach walked up on the morning of the biggest Super Eights match of the tournament and told him to bat two spots higher than he ever had. Brook responded with a 51-ball hundred that dragged England past Pakistan and into the semi-finals with a game to spare. Here’s the full scorecard from that classic, the Test series reversal that came before it, and the tactical decision that actually explains England’s comeback.

Rivalry Snapshot: A History Tilted Firmly Toward England

England have now won all four meetings against Pakistan at T20 World Cups, extending a dominant record in the format, while their most recent Test series in Pakistan swung wildly from a record-breaking innings win to back-to-back defeats. This rivalry looks completely different depending on which format and which year you check, and that inconsistency is the real story most match reports skip.

Match/Series	Format	Result
1st Test, Multan, Oct 2024	Test	England won by an innings and 47 runs
2nd Test, Multan, Oct 2024	Test	Pakistan won by 152 runs
3rd Test, Rawalpindi, Oct 2024	Test	Pakistan won by 9 wickets
T20 World Cup 2026, Super Eights	T20I	England won by 2 wickets

But here’s the real problem with calling this “England’s rivalry to dominate”: they won the first Test of a three-match series by an innings, then lost the next two matches to hand Pakistan the series 2-1. That collapse from a position of total control is exactly what most previews of the World Cup rematch failed to account for.

Full Scorecard: 1st Test, Multan England Win by an Innings and 47 Runs

England posted a mammoth 823/7 declared, one of the highest Test totals ever recorded, before bowling Pakistan out twice to seal a dominant win.

Innings	Team	Score
1st Innings	England	823/7 declared
1st Innings	Pakistan	Bowled out well short
2nd Innings	Pakistan	220 all out

England’s batting depth was on full display here, with the total representing one of the great Test innings in the format’s history.

Full Scorecard: 2nd Test, Multan Pakistan Win by 152 Runs

Pakistan responded immediately, posting 366 and 221 across two innings against England’s 291 and 144, with Ben Duckett’s century the standout for the tourists.

Innings	Team	Score
1st Innings	Pakistan	366
1st Innings	England	291
2nd Innings	Pakistan	221
2nd Innings	England	144

What actually happened: Ben Duckett’s century gave England a strong start, but Sajid Khan’s spin triggered a batting collapse that cost them the match.

Full Scorecard: 3rd Test, Rawalpindi Pakistan Win by 9 Wickets

Pakistan completed a series-turning comeback, winning by nine wickets to take the three-match series 2-1 after trailing 1-0.

Innings	Team	Score
1st Innings	Pakistan	344
1st Innings	England	267
2nd Innings	England	112
2nd Innings	Pakistan	37/1

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England needed 261 more runs on Day 3 and collapsed to just 112 in their second innings, handing Pakistan a series win built entirely on resilience after the opening-Test humiliation.

The Turning Point Nobody Talks About: Pakistan’s Test Series Comeback

Most recaps of this Test series focus on England’s record 823/7 in the opener. But the real story is what Pakistan did afterward: they specifically targeted England’s batting with spin (Sajid Khan in Test 2, unnamed spinners in Test 3), exploiting a weakness that the innings-win scoreline had completely masked. What most people miss is that England’s batting collapsed to 144 and then 112 in consecutive second innings, a pattern that shows their vulnerability against spin on Pakistani surfaces runs deeper than one bad Test.

If you’re assessing any Test series after a dominant opening win, don’t assume the pattern holds. Check second-innings totals specifically England’s collapse from 823 to two sub-150 totals in successive matches is the actual story of this series, not the record-breaking opener.

Full Scorecard: T20 World Cup 2026, Super Eights England Win by 2 Wickets

Pakistan batted first in Pallekele and posted 164/9, before England chased it down in 19.1 overs behind a stunning captain’s innings.

Pakistan Innings 164/9 (20 Overs)

Batter	Runs	Balls	Notes
Sahibzada Farhan	63	37	Pakistan’s lone half-centurion, tournament’s leading run-scorer with 283 runs in five innings
Shadab Khan	—	—	Pakistan’s second-highest scorer with just 111 runs across the tournament
Saim Ayub	—	—	Miscued a pull off Jofra Archer early in the powerplay
Babar Azam	—	—	Added 46 in 44 balls with Farhan for the third wicket before falling to a cross-seamer
Fakhar Zaman	—	—	Recalled for the Super Eights, hit two sixes down the ground before being caught by Dawson

Bowling England: Liam Dawson finished with 3/24, the outstanding performance of the innings, taking two wickets in two balls in the 18th over to restrict Pakistan to 164.

England Innings 166/8 (19.1 Overs)

Batter	Runs	Balls	Notes
Harry Brook (c)	100	51	Maiden T20I century, promoted to No. 3 for the first time in his T20I career
Phil Salt	—	—	Edged behind off Afridi’s first ball of the chase
Jos Buttler	2	—	Continued a miserable run of form, under-edged behind
Will Jacks	28	23	Provided support during the middle-overs rebuild
Jofra Archer	5	2	Smeared the winning runs through midwicket

Bowling — Pakistan: Shaheen Shah Afridi took 4/30, including three wickets in the powerplay and the ball that eventually dismissed Brook one delivery after his century.

Fall of wickets — England: England lost three wickets for just six runs in 12 balls during the powerplay, before Brook’s innings rebuilt the chase almost single-handedly.

Performance Breakdown: Why Brook’s Position Change Decided the Match

A maiden T20I hundred is remarkable on its own, but the tactical context makes it bigger. England coach Brendon McCullum moved Brook from his usual No. 5 slot to No. 3 on the morning of the match specifically to get him facing more balls in the powerplay, since he’d been dismissed by spin for under 20 runs in four consecutive innings. What people think: Brook simply had a great individual day. What actually happened: a specific, deliberate tactical change batting your best player earlier against the exact bowling type troubling him directly created the conditions for the century.

What you should do with this insight: when a in-form batter struggles against a specific bowling type, check whether repositioning them earlier in the order (rather than dropping them or persisting with the same slot) might be the actual fix. England’s gamble here is now a template other captains should study.

What People Think vs What Actually Happened

Belief	Reality
England’s 823/7 in the 1st Test showed total dominance over Pakistan	They lost the next two Tests by a combined 152 runs and 9 wickets, conceding the series 2-1
Pakistan’s 164/9 was a below-par, easily-chased total	England lost 3 wickets for 6 runs in the powerplay and needed a captain’s century just to get over the line
Shaheen Afridi’s 4/30 should have been enough to defend 164	England still won by two wickets, showing depth (Jacks, Archer) can overcome even a dominant individual bowling spell
Farhan’s 63 meant Pakistan’s batting had genuine depth	He was the tournament’s only Pakistan batter with a half-century in five innings — the next-best contributor managed just 111 runs total

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Counterintuitive Take: Pakistan’s Bowling Was Good Enough to Win This Match

Conventional wisdom credits Brook’s century as simply superior individual brilliance overcoming a modest Pakistan total. The bolder, more accurate read: Pakistan’s bowling attack reduced England to 58/4 and then 103/5, meaning Pakistan’s plan very nearly worked England won this match almost entirely because of one player’s exceptional day, not because Pakistan’s bowling underperformed. If you’re building a scouting report on Pakistan’s bowling attack, don’t judge it by the final scoreline. Afridi, Usman Tariq, and Nawaz collectively created enough pressure to win; they were beaten by a single extraordinary innings, not a tactical failure.

Tactical Decisions That Decided Both Contests

England’s decision to promote Brook to No. 3, directly targeting his specific weakness against spin by getting him in earlier against pace, was the single biggest tactical call of the World Cup clash. In the Test series, Pakistan’s decision to lean on Sajid Khan’s spin in home conditions after the opening Test loss directly exploited England’s second-innings fragility, a tactic England never solved across the remaining two matches.

What Pakistan’s team management should actually do differently for the next T20 World Cup meeting: build specific plans to stop England’s middle order rebuilding after early wickets, since Brook’s century proves England can recover from 58/4 if allowed time. Attacking the tail earlier, rather than searching for one more breakthrough wicket, might close that window faster.

Rivalry Summary Table

Metric	England	Pakistan
Test series 2024 result	Won 1st Test by innings & 47 runs	Won series 2-1 (Tests 2 & 3)
T20 World Cup meetings (all-time)	Won all 4 meetings	0 wins
World Cup 2026 Super Eights	Won by 2 wickets	Lost, needed other results to advance
Standout individual performance	Harry Brook, 100* off 51 balls	Sahibzada Farhan, 63 (tournament’s leading scorer)

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