T20 WC 2021: PAK vs SCO Review – Pakistan complete clean sweep with a win over Scotland

Pakistan continued their unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup 2021 as they marched into the semi-finals beating Scotland in their last game of the Super 12 round. Pakistan beat Scotland by 72 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Ground on Sunday, November 7. They ended as the Group 2 winners.

Earlier in the evening, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. They lost Mohammad Rizwan for 15 in the powerplay. Fakhar Zaman also went cheaply but skipper Babar Azam played another gem of an innings. He made 66 runs from 47 balls. Pakistan were going quite steadily in the first half of the innings, but Mohammad Hafeez started upping the rate which was eventually taken forward and finished by Shoaib Malik.

Hafeez scored 31 runs from 19 balls while Malik smashed 54 runs from 18 balls. The death overs carnage by Malik helped Pakistan finish on 189 for 4. Scotland were never in the run chase and lost too many wickets while also eating up a lot of deliveries.

The only knock of substance came from Richie Berrington who made an unbeaten 54 runs from 37 balls. His effort could only help Scotland reach 117 for 6 in their 20 overs. Shadab Khan picked up two wickets while Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali picked up one wicket each.

Top performers:

Babar Azam:

The skipper was once again fantastic with the bat. He played another knock with a similar pattern. He started in a steady fashion and took the attack to the opposition once he was set. It was just another impressive T20 knock on a difficult surface. He hit five fours and three sixes.

Shoaib Malik:

The 39-year-old has been some sort of a T20 specialist in the last few years and proved why he was included in this team. His knock was truly fantastic as he took on the attack to the spinners, smashing them all over the park. He batted at a strike rate of 300, hitting six sixes and one four in the process.

Records/achievements:

• Shoaib Malik equalled the record of the fastest fifty in this tournament along with KL Rahul. Both of them got to the landmark off 18 balls.
• Pakistan have now qualified for the semi-final 15 times in ICC events, equalling India. Only Australia has made it to that stage on more occasions, 16.
• Malik’s 18-ball fifty is now the fastest by a Pakistani batter in T20Is.

Way ahead:

Pakistan will play their semi-final against Australia in Dubai on November 11. Scotland bowed out of the tournament with three wins in the qualifying round and five losses in the main round.