England hero Harry Brook bounces back at T20 World Cup after difficult winter

[p]His match-winning century against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/pakistan/tS3K91g9/"]Pakistan[/a] on Tuesday will go down as the finest innings of the 27-year-old's white-ball career because it single-handedly took his side into a fifth successive T20 World Cup semi-final.[/p][p]Facing a tricky chase of 165 against Pakistan at the Pallekele stadium in Kandy, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/UJC5mtAU/"]England[/a] could have been in dire straits when they lost [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/salt-philip/KYBtscdT/"]Phil Salt[/a] first ball of the innings.[/p][p]But Brooks, who normally bats at number five, strode to the wicket first drop in a massive statement of intent that said "leave it to me, lads".[/p][p]He embarked on a majestic innings - the second fastest century in the history of T20 World Cup and first by a captain - in an extraordinary demonstration of leadership from a man who had copped more than his fair share of flak.[/p][p]Before the tournament, there had been calls for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brook-harry/MefSexXu/"]Brook[/a]'s resignation after he had to apologise for a Halloween incident on the white-ball tour of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-zealand/G6PWlrQB/"]New Zealand[/a], where he was punched by a nightclub bouncer - in his own words, "a terrible mistake".[/p][p]On the eve of the T20 World Cup, Brook admitted lying about being on his own that night to protect his teammates at the time.[/p][embed guid="141724cc-4bf1-4c62-bd6f-986f7dea13c3" url="https://x.com/englandcricket/status/2026363999961354674" social-type="twitter" /][h2]'A captain's innings'[/h2][p]All this had emerged after an Ashes debacle where Brook failed to score a century and was castigated in the English press - and mocked in Australia - for throwing his wicket away with reckless shots time and again.[/p][p]A mid-Ashes beach break had fuelled accusations of a drinking culture in the England camp, as he was photographed with teammates in bars, the beers seemingly flowing.[/p][p]Brook answered all the critics in wonderful fashion on Tuesday night, demonstrating an intelligent cricketing brain to go with his unquestioned batting talent.[/p][p]He judged perfectly when to attack and when to hold back, working singles and twos instead against a potent Pakistan attack who were taking regular wickets at the other end.[/p][p][b]"It's probably been the hardest winter of my life to be honest,"[/b] Brook told reporters after the match.[/p][p][b]"There's been a lot of stuff behind the scenes. It's just nice to see some rewards from my hard work away from the ground."[/b][/p][p]An awestruck Pakistan quick bowler [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/afridi-shaheen/CjuGAMSH/"]Shaheen Shah Afridi[/a] pronounced Brook's performance: [b]"The best innings of his life. A captain's innings."[/b][/p][p]Brook was more modest, saying his one-day international century against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sri-lanka/zahH5UHg/"]Sri Lanka[/a] last month had been better.[/p][p][b]"I actually think I preferred the Sri Lanka ODI to be honest,"[/b] said Brook.[/p][embed guid="078e39df-1b7c-4596-9a0e-e75ce4832982" url="https://x.com/englandcricket/status/2026343493719699583" social-type="twitter" /][p]But that was in a bilateral series; this one was in a World Cup.[/p][p][b]"It's certainly up there in the context of the game and the situation that we found ourselves."[/b][/p][p]Not many people gave the 2010 and 2022 champions England a chance of becoming the first team to win the trophy three times when they stumbled through their group, losing to the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/west-indies/jTD1lMfO/"]West Indies[/a] and being given an almighty scare by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nepal/EV7nAyc1/"]Nepal[/a].[/p][p]Brook's team are now just two knockout wins from the title and have repeatedly talked about preferring to "win ugly" than lose entertainingly.[/p][p][b]"It's just cricket isn't it? We're winning games, we're not winning them perfectly,"[/b] Brook said.[/p][p][b]"We haven't had the perfect game yet and hopefully that's just around the corner."[/b][/p]