COLOMBO (Kashmir English): Pakistan will face New Zealand in the first Super Eight game of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup here today (Feb 21).
The Green Shirts are facing a challenging group featuring New Zealand, England, and Sri Lanka.
Following a win over Namibia, Pakistan qualified for the Super Eight, finishing as runners-up in Group A and is now aiming to maintain momentum.
The Super Eight is the second, crucial stage of the T20 World Cup. It features the top eight teams from the initial group stage divided into two groups of four to play round-robin matches.
The top two teams from each Super Eight group advance to the semi-finals. This phase runs from Feb 21 to March 1, 2026.
Key Details for Super Eight
Group 1: India, Zimbabwe, West Indies, and South Africa.
Group 2: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England, and New Zealand.
Rules: No points are carried over from the first round; all teams start fresh.
Qualification: The top two teams from each group qualify for the semi-finals on March 4 and 5.
All teams reaching this stage automatically qualify for the 2028 T20 World Cup.
Pakistan’s T20 World Cup Super Eight schedule
Feb 21: vs New Zealand (Colombo)
Feb 24: vs England (Kandy)
Feb 28: vs Sri Lanka (Colombo)
Pakistan’s immediate focus is to win against top-tier opponents in the Super 8s to secure a spot in the semi-finals.
Pakistan’s performance in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 so far has been inconsistent, marked by a critical group-stage loss to India but a strong rebound to secure a Super Eights spot.
The team has relied heavily on a specialized spin-heavy attack and top-order contributions from players like Sahibzada Farhan.
