Cricket-Brook ton leads England to nervy win over Pakistan and T20 World Cup semis

PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka, Feb 24 (Reuters) - England captain Harry Brook smashed a blistering century to lead his side into the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals with a nail-biting two-wicket victory over Pakistan in their Super Eight match on Tuesday.

Brook's heroics came after Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi (4-30) had torn through England's top order with a devastating spell, leaving the former champions reeling at 35-3 chasing 165 for victory.

The skipper, who moved up to number three, notched his highest T20 international score, reaching three figures in 50 balls with 10 fours and four sixes before England stumbled over the line after losing wickets at the death.

Brook said the decision to come in at number three was masterminded by coach Brendon McCullum.

"He came to me this morning and just said, 'Look, we might change you up and put you up at three today'," Brook said.

"We've spoken about adapting and changing all sorts throughout this competition. Just having the bravery to do that today was awesome."

WORST POSSIBLE START TO CHASE

England's chase got off to the worst possible start when wicketkeeper Usman Khan caught Phil Salt off the first ball of the innings by Afridi, and he also pouched Jos Buttler.

Afridi's third victim was Jacob Bethell, caught in the deep, before Usman Tariq made amends for an earlier dropped catch by striking first ball to dismiss Tom Banton, with the keeper taking his third catch of the innings.

Brook was the only player to thrive with the bat even as England slid to 103-5 as he continued to lose partners.

As England inched closer to the target, Afridi returned for his final over and claimed the captain's wicket with his last ball when he had him bowled, shaking the captain's hand as he walked back to the pavilion.

England still needed 10 runs to win before Mohammad Nawaz picked up two wickets in the penultimate over to set up a tense finish, but fast bowler Jofra Archer hit the winning runs with a boundary as they crossed the line with five balls to spare.

"Whenever we play against England and we lose, it's always him (Brook). He batted really well," Pakistan skipper Salman Agha said.

"You just have to say hats off to him for the way he batted today. Hopefully they can win against New Zealand (to help Pakistan qualify)."

PAKISTAN OPT TO BAT

Earlier, Pakistan opted to bat first after winning the toss, but could not make the powerplay count as sharp catching from England reduced the Asian side to 27-2.

Saim Ayub fell to a short Archer delivery when he was caught at deep backward square leg and Liam Dawson dismissed Agha after Jamie Overton took a diving catch.

Babar Azam (25) looked in good form when he smashed Archer for consecutive boundaries but Overton came into the attack and knocked over his stumps to leave Pakistan wobbling at 73-3 after 11 overs.

Opener Sahibzada Farhan (63 off 45) continued to frustrate the England bowlers with seven fours and two sixes as he brought up his half-century before being trapped lbw by Overton.

Fakhar Zaman chipped in with a quickfire 25 and Shadab Khan (23) batted with Pakistan's tail to post a total that was ultimately a few runs short.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond and Pritha Sarkar)