Pakistan vs Scotland LIVE Score, T20 World Cup 2021: Malik blasts 18-ball fifty, PAK sets 190 target for SCO

Hello and welcome to Sportstar's LIVE coverage of T20 World Cup 2021 Super 12 match between Pakistan and Scotland from Sharjah.

Shaheen with the new ball. Munsey on strike

Back for the chase. Coeter and Munsey at the centre for Scotland.

After an excellent start with the ball, it's the second-half that comes back to haunt Scotland. Coetzer's bowlers gave 129 runs in the last 10 overs and that has heavily tilted the tide in Pakistan's favour once again.

PAK 189/3 in 20 overs: An 18-ball fifty for Shoaib Malik! What a finish for Pakistan!  Greaves begins well in the over and completely goes off radar, pitching in dollies for Malik on the length. He drops short and Malik blasts him on the leg-side for 6, 4, 6, 6 to complete the innings!

Malik's 18-ball fifty is the fastest by a Pakistan batter in T20I history

PAK 163/3 in 19 overs: Malik special! Sharif errs on length and Malik blasts him over deep mid-wicket for SIX.  He touches a bit too full to finish and Malik tonks the ball over the long-on fielder by a whisker and gets another SIX!

PAK 146/4 in 18 overs: Greaves to Babar. OUT! Mistimes the pull and holes out to long-on. Greaves drops it short and forces Babar to move quickly onto the backfoot. He loses shape while shifting back and fails to time the ball over the fielder. Asif Ali joins Malik. Babar Azam c Munsey b Greaves 66 (47b 5x4 3x6)

PAK 139/3 in 17 overs: The six-fest is on!  Malik launches Watt over long-off for a maximum and Babar finishes the over with a powerful slog that has the long-on fielder interest but falls over the fence after clipping his fingers.

PAK 124/3 in 16 overs: Fifty for Babar! He follows up with a landmark six with a beautiful SIX over the long-on fence. Absolute joy to watch the man when on song! Pakistan has deftly taken command in the last 20 minutes or so and could now push for a biggie from here.

Four fifties in a single T20 WC edition: Matthew Hayden (2007), Virat Kohli (2014), Babar Azam (2021)*

PAK 112/3 in 15 overs: Hafeez goes bonkers! Sharif puts one in the slot and Hafeez pummels it over long-on for a huge SIX. The Professor is in the mood, folks! He shuffles to his right and lofts Sharif over cover for FOUR. Another boundary! He works the fuller ball behind square and beats the fielder for four. Sharif goes full on the stumps and gets his man this time. Hafeez is adjudged lbw. Hafeez attempts for a hoick off his pads but misses and is stuck plumb in front of the stumps there. Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Sharif 31 (19b 4x4 1x6) 

PAK 97/2 in 14 overs: The runs begin to flourish. Hafeez gets room from Berrington and he lofts it over extra cover to the vacant space in the deep and gets FOUR. 

PAK 87/2 in 13 overs: Short and smashed! Babar creams Watt through mid-wicket for FOUR and follows up with another boundary with a delicate cut behind point. He becomes the leading run-scorer in the tournament.

PAK 75/2 in 12 overs: Greaves strays to the pads and Babar works the ball behind square for FOUR. Scotland continues the batters frustrated with some tight lengths. Seven off this over.

PAK 68/2 in 11 overs: Hamza offers length and Hafeez dances down and tonks the ball over the bowler for FOUR.

PAK 60/2 in 10 overs: Greaves to Fakhar. OUT! Straight to the deep. The pressure gets to him and Fakhar mistimes the slog to the man at deep mid-wicket. Hafeez walks in at 4.  Fakhar Zaman c Leask b Greaves 8 (13b)

Greaves replaces Berrington

PAK 57/1 in 9 overs: Babar bangs one to the roof! Watt drops one on the slot and Babar slog sweeps him over deep mid-wicket and over the stands for SIX. A sign of intent there and we might be in for a manic second half.

Watt returns

PAK 45/1 in 8 overs: Fakhar and Babar work the gaps and find ones and twos. Scotland still keeping a tight leash around them. Time to break free, perhaps.

Berrington into the attack

PAK 38/1 in 7 overs: Hamza to Rizwan. OUT! Edged and taken! A breakthrough right after the PP! A reward for his excellent first over. He tosses the ball in once again and Rizwan attempts to cut way too close to the off-stump. He gets an under-edge on it and Cross takes an excellent catch. Fakhar in at 3.  Mohammad Rizwan c †Cross b Hamza Tahir 15 (19b 1x6)

PAK 35/0 in 6 overs: A reserved start for Pakistan in the Powerplay. Scotland has given nothing away save the couple of deliveries in the last over.

PAK 32/0 in 5 overs: And they shift gears! Wheal fends one short and Babar slams him through mid-wicket for FOUR. Rizwan follows up with a nonchalant short-arm jab for a massive SIX over cow corner.

Wheal returns

PAK 18/0 in 4 overs: Dropped by Wheal! Babar gets a reprieve.  Watt loops one in as Babar steps out to slam it straight back. A hard chance there as the ball thuds into his left hand and slips away.

Mark Watt replaces Wheal

PAK 14/0 in 3 overs: Sharif hits a fine line outside off but Babar still makes room to pierce him between point and cover for FOUR. First boundary for Pakistan in the Powerplay. Scotland has kept it pretty tight so far.

Sharif replaces Hamza

PAK vs SCO: Rizwan hits most T20 runs in a calendar year  

PAK 7/0 in 2 overs: 1665* T20 runs for Rizwan this year! He breaks a whopping record set by Chris Gayle for most runs in the format in a calendar season. Sensational stuff as he's brought out an entirely new dimension at the top of the order.

Brad Wheal into the attack

PAK 1/0 in 1 over: Hamza floats the ball in with some guile. Rizwan attempts a massive slog sweep early on but is beaten on length. He gets a single. Hamza slides another ball into Babar's pads and hits him outside the off-stump.

Hamza Tahir with the new ball. Rizwan on strike.

Game on. Babar and Rizwan walk out for Pakistan.

The players walk out for the national anthems

Pakistan has been an absolute force to reckon with in this tournament. They haven't made a single change to their line-up so far and is all set to improve their momentum ahead of the last four stage.

Pakistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi

Scotland (Playing XI): George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer(c), Matthew Cross(w), Richie Berrington, Dylan Budge, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Hamza Tahir, Safyaan Sharif, Bradley Wheal

Numbers Game:

• Pakistan is on a 15-match T20I win streak in the UAE
• Mohammad Rizwan needs 5 runs to break the record for most T20 runs by a batter in a calendar year. He will go past Chris Gayle's tally of 1665 runs.
• Rizwan also needs 49 runs to become the first T20I batter to hit 1000 runs in a calendar year
• Haris Rauf has picked 96 wickets in T20s since 2020 - the most for any seamer

New Zealand qualifies for the semifinals! And we now have the four semifinalists: England will face New Zealand in Abu Dhabi on November 10 in the first semifinal. Pakistan will take on Abu Dhabi the next day in Dubai unless an upset tonight jeopardises the scales.

T20 World Cup: New Zealand reaches semifinals, India out of tournament  

The action as of now is big in Abu Dhabi! NZ nears to its semifinal bid and an Indian exit is on the cards. FOLLOW: NZ vs AFG LIVE

MATCH PREVIEW

Former champion Pakistan will look to continue its invincible run when it plays Scotland in its  last Super 12 Group 2 match of the T20 World Cup on Sunday.

Pakistan, who had claimed the title in 2009, has been simply sensational in the tournament so far and has bossed around other teams in its group to seal a place in the last four with four convincing wins.

If arch-rival India was blown away by 10 wickets, New Zealand was outclassed by five wickets, in the team's first two matches.

Afghanistan did make life difficult for it for a while, but Asif Ali deposited four sixes in six balls to bail it out before Pakistan sealed the semifinal spot with a 45-run win over Namibia in their last match.

Pakistan's openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been on fire, and when they failed to do the job, their middle-order rose to the occasion, while six-hitting machine Asif has proved to be one of the best finishers in the tournament so far.

T20 World Cup: Australia faces slippery West Indies in must-win game  

Australia must control their own fate at T20 World Cup: Finch  

Although they have contributed, the likes of Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik will hope to be more consistent and look to stay till the end.

In the bowling department, the pace duo of Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi have been their best bowlers with seven and five wickets respectively so far, while spinners Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan, too, have done the job asked of them.

The only worrying thing will be the form of seamer Hasan Ali, who has gone for runs.

With the semifinal spot assured, Pakistan might look to rest a few players and give others opportunities in the inconsequential match.

For Scotland, it will be an uphill task, but it would hope to put up a better show than its last match and end things on a positive note.

Scotland won all three matches to qualify for Super 12 but crashed out after losing the last four games.

The eight-wicket loss to India on Friday night has been the most difficult to digest, but skipper Kyle Coetzer will hope the interaction with Indian players, including skipper Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, in Dubai, will inspire the team to put up a good show against Pakistan.

WHERE TO WATCH TODAY'S MATCH IN T20 WORLD CUP 2021 - PAK vs SCO?

The T20 World Cup 2021 match between Pakistan and Scotland will be aired live on the Star Sports Network at 7:30pm IST. The online live streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar.