Pakistan booked the final place in the Super Eight phase of the 2026 T20 World Cup, brushing Namibia aside by 102 runs at the SSC in Colombo. The result tidies up group A – India go through as winners, Pakistan as runners-up – and completes the second-round draw.
Super Eight groups, fixtures
The eight remaining teams split as follows:
• Group 1 – India, Zimbabwe, West Indies, South Africa
• Group 2 – England, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Each side starts on zero points, net run-rate from the first round wiped. Everyone plays everyone once, top two advance to the semi-finals.
Pakistan get the phase under way against New Zealand at the R Premadasa on Saturday. “We’re treating it as a fresh tournament,” captain Babar Azam said afterwards. “Net run rate’s gone, so momentum is everything now.” His coach, Gary Kirsten, echoed the theme: “The slate’s clean; you earn your place from here.”
Tournament logistics
If Pakistan reach the semis they play the first semi-final in Colombo on 4 March; if not, that fixture shifts to Kolkata. The second semi-final is set for 5 March at Mumbai’s Wankhede and will feature India if they qualify. The final is booked for Colombo unless Pakistan fall short, in which case Ahmedabad steps in. Reserve days cover both semis and the final.
Automatic 2028 qualification
Reaching the Super Eight secures a ticket to the 2028 T20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The ten other automatic spots go to the rest of this year’s Super Eight sides plus the co-hosts themselves. Three further berths – based on ICC T20I rankings on 9 March 2026 – fall to Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Ireland. Eight remaining slots will be filled through regional qualifiers.
How they reached this point
Pakistan’s place never really looked in doubt once opener Sahibzada Farhan reeled off a controlled hundred against Namibia, the right-hander timing the ball neatly on a skiddy surface. “I tried to keep it simple and cash in when the ball was in my zone,” Farhan said. Namibia’s chase never got close, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah sharing early wickets to squash any remote chance of an upset.
Elsewhere in the first round Sri Lanka edged out Bangladesh to complete group B, Zimbabwe upset the odds to follow them, while West Indies and England progressed cleanly from group C. South Africa and New Zealand were untroubled in group D, rounding out a Super Eight that looks tight, if not quite cut-throat.
Plenty still to play for, then, but the road map is now clear.
