Pakistan remained the only unbeaten team at the cricket T20 World Cup and stormed into the semifinals with an emphatic 72-run win over Scotland in their last Group 2 game on Sunday.
The 2009 champion, which won all five of its group games, faces Australia in the semifinals at Dubai on Thursday, a day after England meets New Zealand at Abu Dhabi in the first semifinal game.
England play New Zealand at 1am on Thursday (AEDT) with the second semi 24 hours later. The two winners will play the final at 1am next Monday morning.
Shoaib Malik smashed 54 not out off just 18 balls – Pakistan’s fastest fifty in a Twenty20 game – and captain Babar Azam (66) notched his fourth half century in the tournament to lead their side to a strong 4-189 after Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat.
READ MORE: Aussie closes in on Moto2 world title
READ MORE: Scots down Wallabies after Hooper’s ref spray
Scotland could only reach 6-117 and ended the tournament with five successive losses in the Super 12s. Scotland had qualified on the back of three straight wins that included an upset victory over Bangladesh.
Richie Berrington top-scored for Scotland with an unbeaten 54 but other batters struggled against both spin and pace. Legspinner Shadab Khan led the bowlers by claiming 2-14 in yet another convincing win for Pakistan, which also defeated archrival India, New Zealand, Afghanistan and Namibia.
“We are playing like a unit and everyone has confidence and belief in everyone else,” Babar said. “The way we’ve played our cricket, we’ve got good confidence. We’ll carry that into the semifinals and try to play in the same way.”
Malik’s brutal onslaught saw the most experienced T20 player in the world smashing a total of six sixes as he took the inexperienced Scotland bowling apart in the last five overs.
Legspinner Chris Greaves (2-43), who had claimed two wickets, was hit for 26 by Malik in the last over as the batter brought up his half century off the last ball with a six over midwicket.
READ MORE: Fighters rushed to hospital after UFC epic
READ MORE: Australia through to semis at T20 World Cup
Babar continued his supreme batting form in the tournament, hitting five boundaries and three sixes before holing out in the deep off Greaves in the 18th over. Mohammad Hafeez struck 31 off 19 balls as Scotland conceded 77 runs in the last five overs.
“When you’ve got the power in the batting lineup like Pakistan, you know that they are going to find the boundaries at some stage,” Scotland skipper Kyle Coetzer said. “I thought our guys fought really hard today, hopefully we’ve inspired as many people as possible in Scotland.”
Pakistan finished top of Group 2 with 10 points, two more than second-place New Zealand, which earlier beat Afghanistan by eight wickets at Abu Dhabi to eliminate India.