State of Play: Five teams book Super Eight spots at T20WC

Broadcast details for Men's T20 World Cup 2026

Qualified

India: 6 points in Group A, +3.050 NRR

Co-hosts India marched into the Super Eight with a comprehensive 61-run win over Pakistan in Colombo on Sunday. They are unbeaten in the tournament so far, winning three out of three.

Bidding for their third T20 World Cup title, India opened the 2026 edition against the USA. It wasn’t all smooth sailing at the beginning, as the defending champions were reduced to 77/6. Captain Suryakumar Yadav dug them out of trouble with an unbeaten 84 to lead the team to a 29-run win.

India’s depth of talent has been evident, as at least one player has stepped up and taken responsibility. While an all-round show by Hardik Pandya helped them to a 93-run win over Namibia, Ishan Kishan’s swashbuckling 77 took the game away from Pakistan.

All the pieces are clicking into place for the defending champions.

Sri Lanka: 6 points in Group B, +2.462 NRR

What a tournament so far for the co-hosts. After launching their campaign with a 20-run triumph over Ireland in Colombo, they have gone from strength-to-strength.

Off the back of Pavan Rathnayake's 60 off 28 balls and Kusal Mendis' 61 off 45, they surged to a powerful 105-run win over Oman in Kandy.

But it's their most recent work that has really caught the world's attention. At Kandy for a second straight contest, the home side displayed pure dominance against their higher-ranked counterparts Australia. They made light work of their targeted 182 for victory, led by opener Pathum Nissanka's emphatic 100* off 52 balls. He was unstoppable, steering Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket victory, with two overs spare, sealing their Super Eight qualification.

West Indies: 6 points in Group C, +1.820 NRR

West Indies’ power-packed batting line-up was the talk of the town when the team arrived for the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. And the batters have stood up to the scrutiny so far, leading their team to three successive wins.

They opened with a 35-run victory over Scotland and sealed qualification with a dominant nine-wicket win over Nepal. But their most impressive performance was against England. Sherfane Rutherford led the charge as the team piled on 196/6. West Indies then dismissed England for 166 on a good batting track to complete a statement showing.

The West Indian pacers have also made an impact, with Romario Shepherd claiming 5/20 against Scotland and Jason Holder earning 4/27 against Nepal.

The last time that a Men’s T20 World Cup was held in India, West Indies, led by Daren Sammy, defied expectations to capture the title. Sammy is back at the helm, as a coach this time, and is hoping for an encore.

South Africa: 6 points in Group D, +1.477 NRR

South Africa scored a commanding seven-wicket win over New Zealand on Saturday, courtesy of a terrific 86 from their skipper Aiden Markram off just 44 deliveries, to continue their unbeaten run.

Aiming to go one better than their runners-up finish in the previous edition, the Proteas opened their 2026 campaign against Canada. It was a dominant start, as the batting unit fired in unison to post 213 on the board. Markram led from the front with a fluent half-century, while David Miller and Tristan Stubbs provided the late acceleration. Lungi Ngidi then starred with the ball, claiming four wickets to seal a comfortable 57-run victory.

South Africa’s resilience was tested in their second outing against Afghanistan, a repeat of the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final. The contest turned into a thriller, with Afghanistan forcing two Super Overs after a spirited fightback led by Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The Proteas, however, held their nerve to clinch a dramatic four-run win in the second Super Over.

With both their firepower and composure on display, South Africa look well-set for the challenges ahead.

England: 6 points in Group C, +0.201 NRR

England are living dangerously in the tournament. After opening the tournament with a too-narrow-for-comfort win over Nepal, they survived a high-scoring thriller against Italy on Monday to close out the group stage.

In the four matches so far, their most comprehensive performance was a five-wicket victory over Scotland.

England were also outplayed in the marquee Group C clash against the West Indies.

However, they will take heart from the performance of their all-rounders Sam Curran and Will Jacks against Italy. England's batting depth came to the fore in Kolkata, as they recovered from 105/5 to post a massive 202/7 on the board. Those extra runs at the death proved to be critical as Italy went down fighting by 24 runs.

In the mix

Zimbabwe: 4 points in Group B, +1.984 NRR

Zimbabwe scripted the biggest upset of the tournament so far as they defeated former champions Australia by 23 runs. They have won their first two matches and made headway in a competitive Group C. Next on the cards are Ireland, then Sri Lanka.

Ireland: 2 points in Group B, +0.150 NRR

Ireland’s hopes of a Super Eight spot are hanging by a thread. Their only win in three matches has come against Oman. Even if they beat Zimbabwe on Tuesday, they will have to hope that other results in the group go their way.

Canada: 0 points in Group D, -1.526 NRR

The drama of a tightly contested group ensures that Canada, despite losing both their opening games, are technically still in with a chance of making it to the Super 8. There have been a few inspirational performances along the way, with Navneet Dhaliwal hitting 64 in the loss to South Africa and Harsh Thaker's fighting half-century against the UAE. Heavy wins in their upcoming matches against New Zealand and Afghanistan could give them some hope.

USA: 4 points in Group A, 0.788 NRR

USA has wrapped up their matches in the group stage, but now they wait and hope. In their four games in Group A, they fell short against India despite a valiant performance, particularly with Shadley van Schalkwyk taking 4/25 against the defending champions.

They lost to Pakistan by 32 runs, but followed it up with a strong performance in their 93-run win over the Netherlands. In their final group game, led by Sanjay Krishnamurthi's unbeaten 68 off 33, they beat Namibia by 31 runs.

Van Schalkwyk is currently the top wicket-taker in the tournament, with 13 scalps.

Netherlands: 2 points in Group A, -1.352 NRR

The Dutch will know their fate perhaps an hour before they play their final Group A match on February 18.

They will hope for winless Namibia to hand Pakistan a heavy loss, while the Netherlands pull off a big upset win over the defending champions to get up on net-run-rate. Either way, they will rue that near-miss against Pakistan in the tournament opener, where the Dutch grabbed five wickets for 16 runs, putting the rival’s chase in jeopardy at 114/7, before the former champions edged to a three-wicket win.

Pakistan: 4 points in Group A, -0.139 NRR

Pakistan's qualification into the Super 8 is in their own hands. A win in their last Group A game will confirm their spot in the next stage. But a loss will mean they will have to rely on old-rivals India to beat the Dutch.

It has been a patchy performance by the 2009 champions so far, especially with the bat.

Afghanistan: 2 points in Group C, -0.215 NRR

Afghanistan haven’t quite revived the magic of 2024 and are still in the race, but only just.

A vital win over the UAE has kept their campaign alive after back-to-back defeats to New Zealand and South Africa. Their spirited effort against the Proteas, which stretched the contest to two Super Overs, ultimately proved fruitless.

With Canada set to face New Zealand first, Afghanistan’s hopes hinge on that result. They need Canada to win and must register a big victory themselves against Canada to improve their net run rate and secure a spot in the Super Eight.

New Zealand: 4 points in Group D, +0.701 NRR

The Kiwis are in a good position to qualify from Group D. They began their campaign with a five-wicket win over Afghanistan and followed it up with a solid 10-wicket triumph over UAE. The loss to South Africa did come as a setback. But the equation is clear - they need to beat Canada, by any margin, to progress.

Australia: 2 points in Group B, +0.414 NRR

After their eight-wicket loss to Sri Lanka, the Aussies are now on the brink of an unthinkable reality of not progressing.

It's been a disastrous tour, getting swept 3-0 by Pakistan before the T20 World Cup and now suffering back-to-back tournament defeats.

They will now be praying that Ireland can beat Zimbabwe to keep their slim chances of progressing alive. And if that eventuates, there is still a lot of work to do, starting with needing a strong, NRR-boosting win over Oman and hoping Sri Lanka beats Zimbabwe well. Then it would come down to NRR.

UAE: 2 points in Group D, -0.797 NRR

As it stands in Group D, UAE has a very slim chance of making it through, but a chance nonetheless. Their fate, however, could be decided a day before they play their final match against South Africa on February 18. If New Zealand beats Canada, then Group D's top two will be decided.

But if Canada gets a big win, then UAE will have to come up with a comprehensive triumph themselves against the Proteas to progress. Their only win so far this campaign came against Canada.

Out of contention

Italy: 2 points in Group C, -0.588 NRR

Italy qualified for a cricket World Cup, across formats, for the first time. The team that consists of players of Australia, South Africa, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Indian heritage though put on a show. The loss to Scotland aside, Italy stormed past Nepal before running two-time winners England close. They finish a campaign, which has earned them many admirers, against West Indies.

Namibia: 0 points in Group A, -2.443 NRR

Namibia have had their moments, like a promising start in the big run chase against the USA, but have been unable to press on to victory. With defeats against USA, India and the Netherlands, they are set to exit after the group stage.

Oman: 0 points in Group B, -4.546 NRR

It has been another tough campaign for the Asian side. Placed in Group B, they began the tournament with an eight-wicket defeat to Zimbabwe, suffered a 105-run defeat and were outplayed by Ireland. They failed to win a single match during the 2024 T20 World Cup group stage too.

Nepal: 0 points in Group C, -1.942

Nepal started the tournament with much promise as they took former champions England to the brink. Chasing 184, the Asian team were within one shot of victory, but finally ended at 180/6 in their 20 overs.

After the bright start, Nepal have tapered off. They were handed a 10-wicket defeat by tournament debutants Italy. A loss against West Indies knocked them out of Super Eight contention.

Scotland: 2 points in Group C, 0.359 NRR

Scotland were late entrants to this T20 World Cup as replacements for Bangladesh. They started their campaign with a 35-run defeat to the West Indies but bounced back with a commanding 73-run win over Italy.

The five-wicket loss to England though meant their hopes of progressing hung by a thread. It all ended when England beat Italy. They have a chance to finish their campaign on a high when they take on Nepal.