England captain Harry Brook gave a cheeky response after the 30 run defeat to West Indies, with their T20 World Cup 2026 qualification still hanging in the balance.
Speaking after the match at the presentation ceremony, Harry Brook said that the game before against Nepal, which they won, was crucial, as a loss would have put their qualification chances under serious pressure.
“Thank god we won against Nepal the other night. Otherwise we’d be in a tricky situation,” Brook said.
England could have lost the match against Nepal, but Sam Curran held his nerve and defended 10 runs in the last over as they won by five runs. With that victory, and even after the defeat against West Indies in the second match, their qualification chances are still in their own hands.
If they had lost to Nepal, it would have been very difficult for them to stay in the race.
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England while chasing 197 runs against West Indies, started strongly with Phil Salt and Jos Buttler providing a quick opening stand. However, after losing both openers at 74/2 in the seventh over, they kept losing wickets and the run rate slowed down. Brook was dismissed caught and bowled by Gudakesh Motie for 17 off 14 balls. Apart from the openers and Jacob Bethell, who scored 33 off 23 balls, no other batter showed much intent. Sam Curran fought hard with 43 off 30 balls, but it was not enough as England lost by 30 runs.
Harry Brook admitted that they were a bit too careful in the chase.
“We were probably a little bit careful, myself included. I’d much rather be caught on the boundary rather than the way I did today. That’s part of T20 cricket,” he added.
With one win and one loss, England are currently third in the table. They have two matches remaining, against Scotland on February 14 and Italy on February 16, both at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
If they win both matches, they will most likely qualify for the Super 8 stage without depending on other results. However, if they lose even one of those games, it will become very difficult for them. West Indies are currently at the top of the table with two wins in two matches and are likely to remain there after the group stage.
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