Pallekele (Sri Lanka), February 24 Admitting that things got "a bit tense" towards the end, England captain Harry Brook said he hoped it wouldn't turn into "another Oval" moment as his side edged past Pakistan to secure a semifinal berth in the T20 World Cup here on Tuesday.
Brook led from the front with a brilliant 51-ball 100, guiding England to a narrow two-wicket win in their Super 8 clash and making them the first team to confirm a spot in the semifinals.
"It got a bit tense at the end. I was about to say to Baz (Brendon McCullum) 'hopefully this isn't another Oval (vs India),' " Brook said, referring to his hundred that ultimately proved unsuccessful when England were denied a record chase by India in the fifth Test at the Kia Oval last year, losing by six runs on the final day as the series ended 2-2.
"We came here to achieve this, and we did. I'm very happy with the way we played, and it's just nice to get through to the semi-finals now. We have one more game against New Zealand, and we'll focus on that. But the ultimate goal is on the other side," Brook said.
On Tuesday, the match tightened after Brook's dismissal as England lost Will Jacks and Jamie Overton in the 19th over before Jofra Archer struck a boundary to complete the chase of 165 in 19.1 overs.
"Pakistan is a good team. They are always a good team. They have some of the best players in the world. They have been for many years. And yeah, like I said, it's just nice to get over the line."
Brook, who was promoted to No. 3 for the first time in the tournament, struck 10 fours and four sixes in a commanding innings.
On the move up the order, he said: "It was all Baz (Brendon McCullum). He came to me this morning and said, 'what do you think about No. 3? Pakistan is your team.'"
"We've spoken about adapting and changing throughout this competition, and just having the courage to do that today was awesome.
"We wanted to try and maximize the powerplay a little more. They know I like to take the game on. Thankfully, it worked, and we got a decent start."
Brook, who was named Player of the Match, said England would continue striving for improvement as they chase a third World Cup title.
"There are obviously areas that we still want to improve on, and you can never quite achieve perfection, but we're always striving for it.
"So, like I said, we'll look towards the New Zealand game now, and our focus is completely on that."
On scoring a World Cup hundred, he added: "I was just happy to be able to hit the ball. We were in a tricky situation at the start, and then a couple of partnerships were nice. And, like I said, just nice to get over the line."
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha admitted his side fell short with the bat and credited Brook for taking the game away.
"We started well with the bat, but couldn't finish the way we wanted to. But sometimes, you have to give credit to the other batters. I think Harry batted brilliantly. Our score was a bit short. And then Brook took the game away from us. We threw everything at him," he said.
Salman admitted that Brook has been their nemesis for some time.
"Whenever we play against England and lose, it's always because of him. I have to give him credit and the way he batted today. It was a very challenging innings. He can play all around the ground, so it can get difficult. They batted really well against Tariq. They didn't go hard against him, but he still got two wickets. The way Nawaz bowled the 19th over, I thought maybe, you never know," Salman said.
Pakistan need to wait for the results of their other matches before their last game against Sri Lanka.
"Even if there's a 1% chance that my team will go for it," Salman said.
