World T20 Super 8s guide: India still team to beat but Curran can inspire England | T20 World Cup 2026

Group One

Pakistan

“It’s simple,” mentioned Shadab Khan after Pakistan’s final group sport, a one-sided encounter with Namibia. “We just have to keep doing the good things we’ve been doing. Our openers are giving us good starts in almost every match. In bowling, we have to keep hitting the right areas consistently. I think we’re on the right track.” Pakistan have, certainly, finished every thing that might have been requested of them, besides of their one genuinely high-pressure match – towards India – when they were shambolic and outclassed. It’s easy – they simply have to cease doing the dangerous issues they’ve been doing.

Key participant Having performed simply 5 occasions throughout 2023 and 2024, the spin-bowling all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz has been Pakistan’s best-performing bowler since he returned to the aspect in the course of 2025, taking 48 wickets at 14.6. No different Pakistan participant has greater than 32.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka misplaced all three video games of their remaining warmup sequence towards England, began the event they’re co-hosting by beating Ireland, a match largely decided by the Irish forgetting how to catch, and ended the group stage by being outperformed by Zimbabwe. In the meantime, the seamer Matheesha Pathirana strained a leg muscle and has been dominated out of the event, as has the all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga, who pulled a hamstring. None of this makes inspiring studying, and smashing Oman doesn’t actually make them stand out both. But then they beat Australia, and for all that this Australia team will not be the scalp they often are, this was a glimpse of what Sri Lanka might be.

Key participant Pathum Nissanka’s 52-ball century towards Australia was a near-perfect high-pressure T20 innings, and simply the fifth time a Sri Lankan has scored a T20 century. Nissanka additionally acquired the earlier one, towards India final September.

England

England bat deep, they usually’ve had to: after Jacob Bethell, their subsequent highest scorers throughout the group stage had been Will Jacks and Sam Curran, who’ve are available in at Nos 6 and seven. Their high 4 scored 354 runs between them (with Bethell contributing 40% of that whole) – the opposite eight sides that managed fewer than 400 have all been knocked out. And they’ve managed solely three partnerships of fifty runs or extra – the opposite 9 sides with three or fewer have all been knocked out. But if they have been largely unconvincing, now they return to Sri Lanka, the place they loved a profitable go to within the buildup, to compete in a gaggle that has a couple of equally underwhelming aspect.

Key participant Sam Curran has scored 98 runs at a mean of 32.66, placing him third on England’s run-getting record, and brought six wickets at a mean of 19.66, placing him joint first (a four-way tie with Jofra Archer, Jamie Overton and Adil Rashid) of England’s wicket-getting record, whereas additionally shouldering death-over duties.

New Zealand

New Zealand have reached at the least the semi-finals in three of the previous 4 T20 World Cups and are effectively positioned to repeat that feat this 12 months. As effectively as being within the weaker of the 2 teams – the one with no first-stage group winners – they’ve the distinctive benefit of taking part in all three Super 8s matches on the similar venue, the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, the place they occur to have a 100% report (albeit their two earlier matches there have been performed within the area of three days in 2009). Plus, Rachin Ravindra appears to have lastly emerged from a deep funk with an unbeaten half-century towards Canada of their remaining group sport.

Key participant Across the previous two years Tim Seifert has scored practically twice as many runs in T20 internationals as another Kiwi. After beginning the event with half-centuries towards Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates, he has faltered of their two most up-to-date matches, but a return to type is due.

Group Two

India

The pre-tournament favourites have received the (joint) most video games, scored essentially the most runs and hit essentially the most sixes, and stay solidly heading in the right direction to defend their title. Abhishek Sharma might have been essentially the most profound disappointment of the event to date, the world’s top-ranked T20 batter but to rating a run after three innings, but with the bat somebody at all times stands up, and with the ball they’ve Jasprit Bumrah (although their simplest bowler when it comes to wickets taken, and main the world rankings, is the spinner Varun Chakravarthy). A batting lineup that options six left-handers within the first-choice high eight shouldn’t be very best, and frailties towards off-spin have been famous. As has fallible fielding – no aspect remaining within the competitors have dropped extra catches.

Key participant With Abhishek underperforming, Ishan Kishan has risen to the event, hitting 61 towards Namibia and following it up with a 41-ball 77 against Pakistan. Kishan didn’t play a global match between November 2023 and final month but now seems in unbelievable contact.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe boast one of the best seam assault within the event, with Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans answerable for 17 wickets between them. They misplaced solely eight wickets throughout the group stage, two of them in a manic penultimate over towards Sri Lanka, which for all that they solely performed thrice is astonishing. The common Zimbabwe batter scored 54.75, greater than double the equal determine for England, India or Pakistan. Beating Australia was a powerful achievement, but Zimbabwe didn’t cease there. They have been a phenomenon.

Key participant The opener Brian Bennett has performed three innings, scored 175 runs at a strike price of 125 and never been dismissed as soon as. There has by no means been a run of type fairly prefer it. If the 22-year-old can proceed it, there could also be a couple of extra shocks but.

West Indies

Owners of one in every of three 100% data within the event, West Indies have steamrollered each impediment they’ve come up towards. “There’s a different level of enthusiasm and focus when it comes to a World Cup. This is a big tournament, this is the biggest stage. We all want to be there at the end,” says the captain, Shai Hope. “We know what it takes to get there. And you can see it from the outside, and I can definitely tell you from within, you can feel it. We really want it.”

Key participant For all that they’ve taken extra wickets than another team, it’s West Indies’ batting that has powered them by the group stage. One of their batters has scored 60 or extra in each match to date and if Shimron Hetmyer, man of the match towards Scotland, retains turning up, his team will preserve being exhausting to beat.

South Africa

South Africa proceed to impress. World Test champions, crushed finalists in 2024, hosts of the subsequent 50-over World Cup, cricket superpower, they coasted to three simple victories within the group levels. They additionally scrapped to one messy double-super-over-decided tie towards Afghanistan during which all types of fallibilities had been uncovered. They begin the Super 8s towards India and 100,000 hostile followers in Ahmedabad, and the way they reply will show whether or not they’re critical contenders to go one higher than final time. On the plus aspect, they performed India there simply two months in the past; on the draw back, they had been comfortably crushed after they did.

Key participant Tasked with defending 13 runs within the remaining over towards Afghanistan, Kagiso Rabada fell aside, bowling a large, two no-balls and one garbage supply that Noor Ahmad dispatched into the stands. Will want to get up higher to extra strain.