brook

With England needing 43 from the last 18 balls to beat New Zealand on Friday, Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed put on an unbeaten partnership of 44 from 16 balls to secure the win.

In the previous two games, England made a below-par 146-9 against Sri Lanka only to dismiss their co-hosts for 95 to secure victory, and were 58-4 against Pakistan before Brook himself hit a stunning century.

Those three victories followed a group stage where England struggled to beat Nepal, Scotland and Italy and were beaten by West Indies.

Their success also follows the dismal Ashes tour of Australia in Test cricket.

“I don’t believe we need a perfect game to win the competition,” said Brook, who is leading England for the first time at a World Cup.

“We’ve won those tight games which in World Cups prove to be very important and we’ve got a lot of confidence going into the deeper parts of the game.

“We’ve got a lot of competitive lads. Everybody wants to win, which is a given really, but even off the field when we’re playing golf, playing cards, whatever, everybody is always really competitive and they always have that slight edge and they take it out into the cricket as well.”

Brook said he expects Thursday’s atmosphere to be “awesome”, with the match to be played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in front of 33,000 spectators.

England resisted naming an XI before the toss, but seam-bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton appears likely to replace leg-spinner Ahmed.

India were the overwhelming pre-tournament favourites but have also stuttered at times in the competition.

They were given a scare by the United States in the group stage and were well beaten by South Africa in the Super 8s.

“I said the other day there’s a lot of pressure on both sides, potentially more on them going into here with the crowd and the disappointment they had against South Africa as well,” Brook said.

“But we’re just going to go out there, stick to what we know and assess conditions as quickly as possible and give it real good fight.”

Harry Brook hits a humongous six for England against New Zealand, as the ball flies over square leg and into the stadium screen at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

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There is, of course, one other man Brook owed a performance to.

His coach Brendon McCullum was pushed to the brink by the Ashes defeat. Some will say he has already gone beyond the point from which he can return.

But in securing a semi-final spot, Brook has nudged England closer to a result that will keep the New Zealander in a job should he want it.

Brook could yet be the Mark Robins to McCullum’s Sir Alex Ferguson – granted the New Zealander has a long way to go.

Brook has always been one of Bazball’s most devoted believers.

McCullum is the only Test coach Brook has had, the only permanent coach he has worked under as white-ball captain. He often speaks straight from the McCullum philosophical handbook.

It was no surprise, therefore, that he credited his coach with the plan to promote Brook from number five to bat at three for the first time in his international career.

It was McCullum who put the idea to his captain early on Tuesday morning, less than 12 hours before the start of the game.

Some England players, like Jacob Bethell, who was nudged down to number four by Brook’s promotion, were told earlier in the day, but the rest were not fully made aware of the plan until McCullum spoke in the pre-match huddle.

“Baz was the mastermind there,” Brook said.

“He had the discussion with me this morning about going up the order and trying to maximise the powerplay.”

McCullum’s move means England now have a free hit in their final Super 8 match against New Zealand on Friday. After that they will travel to India for a semi-final.

Somehow, after stuttering and struggling to this point, they are the closest side to winning the title. Australia have gone already and defending champions India could follow before the week is out.

If the co-hosts remain, one of South Africa or West Indies will surely be knocked out.

Brook is two wins from becoming the fourth England men’s captain – after Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler – to lift a World Cup.

He is leading his way, which will bring moments that will leave you scratching your head. Now is the time for Brook to be backed, however.

He is not only a captain, one sharp tactically on the field and supremely talented with the bat, but a leader.

‘Clocked’ by a bouncer in Wellington, as culpable as anyone in the dismal Ashes defeat in Australia, pictured drinking in Noosa and found to have lied when apologising in Sydney.

Brook has had quite the winter.

This, though, was everything good about England’s white-ball captain. He batted at his destructive best.

Surprise greeted the sight of Brook walking down the steps rather than Bethell after Salt nicked off to Shaheen but the thinking was smart.

It kept the right-hander away from Pakistan’s five spinners on a turning pitch at the start of his innings and allowed him to take advantage of the powerplay fielding restrictions.

Brook faced three dots in his first five balls but then took left-armer Salman Mirza for a four and six in the second over.

He muscled a brutal straight six over long-on off while hitting spinner Mohammad Nawaz for 17 in the sixth, before nudging singles after Banton nicked off to Usman Tariq. The mystery spinner was Pakistan’s major threat.

At halfway, Brook kicked on again, crashing leg-spinner Shadab Khan for a perfect straight six. He scored all around the ground but those straight hits and his drives through the covers were particularly eye-catching.

He reached three figures with two more hits over mid-off – one for six and another a one-bounce four.

It made him the third man to score centuries in all three formats for England, after Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan, but more importantly it keeps them on course for a third T20 title.