Pakistan pummel Scotland to set up Australia semi-final

Babar Azam’s classy 66 and a brutal 18-ball fifty from Shoaib Malik took unbeaten Pakistan to a resounding 72-run victory over Scotland and set up a semi-final showdown with Australia at the T20 World Cup.

Babar’s side had been knocked down into second place in Group 2 on net run-rate following New Zealand’s victory over Afghanistan in Sunday’s earlier game and a shock defeat to Scotland in Sharjah would have seen Pakistan stay second and face Group 1 winners England in the last four.

But Pakistan made sure of top spot after plundering 129 runs from their final 10 overs, and 43 from the final two as Malik (54no off 18) hit out, to post 189-4 before limiting Scotland to 117-6, making it five wins in a row and inflicting a fifth defeat on the trot on Kyle Coetzer’s Saltires.

Pakistan will now meet Australia in Dubai on Thursday, a day after England and New Zealand contest the the first semi-final in Abu Dhabi, with the winners of those games locking horns in the Dubai final next Sunday.

Babar, dropped on eight by Scotland spinner Mark Watt (0-41) off his own bowling, struck his fourth half-century of the tournament – matching the record set by current Pakistan coach and former Australia batter Matthew Hayden in the 2007 T20 World Cup and India’s Virat Kohli in 2014.

Babar, whose innings featured five fours and three sixes, notched 68 against India, 51 against Afghanistan and 70 against Namibia, with his only blip coming when he was dismissed for nine against New Zealand.

Malik creamed the joint-fastest half-century of this World Cup – alongside India batter KL Rahul, also against Scotland – with his knock containing six sixes in total and three off Chris Greaves in a 26-run final over.

Scotland got nowhere near their stiff target as Pakistan’s talented and varied bowling attack, including left-arm spinner Imad Wasim (0-17), leg-spinner Shadab Khan (2-14), and left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi (1-24) kept the batters in check, save for Richie Berrington (54 not out off 37).

Pakistan – for whom Mohammad Hafeez cracked a 19-ball 31 against Scotland and passed 2,500 runs in T20 international cricket – emerged from the Super 12 with a 100 per cent record, which began with a maiden T20 or 50-over World Cup win over India at the 13th attempt.

Scotland, in contrast, lost all of their Super 12 encounters, suffering extremely heavy losses to Pakistan, India and Afghanistan and narrower ones to New Zealand and fellow qualifiers Namibia.

Coetzer’s men restricted Pakistan to 60-2 from 10 overs after Babar elected to bat, with left-arm spinner Hamza Tahir (1-24) – making his first appearance of the competition – impressing for the Saltires.

Things went away in the back 10, with Hafeez and Malik, who have a combined age of 80, striking a combined 12 boundaries – seven sixes and five fours – from the 37 balls they faced.

Hafeez crunched Safyaan Sharif (1-41) for two fours and six in the 15th over, while Malik nailed two sixes off the same bowler in the 19th before tonking three maximums and a four off Greaves (2-43) in the 20th.

The Super 12 may have been a pretty chastening experience for Scotland but it has been a history-making tournament, with wins over Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea and Oman taking them into round two for the first time.

That achievement also ensured they have reached next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, which they will begin in round one alongside former champions West Indies and Sri Lanka as well as Namibia and four qualifiers.

Pakistan could start the 2022 edition as defending champions, with the 2009 winners now just two victories away from a second T20 title.

With Babar in sparkling form, opening partner Mohammad Rizwan having scored more T20 runs in 2021 than anyone ever has in a calendar year – Rizwan’s haul of 1,676 topping the 1,665 managed by Chris Gayle in 2015 – their veterans firing with the bat and an all-bases-covered bowling attack, it will take an excellent side to beat Pakistan next week.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Super 12 stage concludes on Monday as eliminated India and Namibia face off in Dubai (1.30pm, Sky Sports Cricket).

The game may be a dead rubber with India out of semi-final contention following New Zealand’s win over Afghanistan and Namibia’s faint last-four hopes ended by defeat to the Black Caps last Wednesday.

However, India will want to end their campaign, Virat Kohli’s tenure as T20 captain and Ravi Shastri’s spell as head coach, with a resounding performance, while Namibia will hope to end their debut T20 World Cup by pulling off a shock in a tournament which has been short of them.

Then it is on to next week’s semi-finals, with England and New Zealand meeting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (1.30pm, Sky Sports Cricket) in a repeat of the 2019 50-over World Cup final, before Pakistan and Australia do battle in Dubai on Thursday (1.30pm, Sky Sports Cricket).

Watch the T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports.