Scotland’s involvement in the men’s T20 World Cup came to a disappointing end as they were easily beaten by Pakistan.
The Saltires have struggled throughout the Super 12 phase, losing all five of their encounters after impressing in the first round with three successive victories.
They looked in decent shape for a while in Sharjah but some devastating late power hitting from Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik — who both made half-centuries, the latter scoring 54 off 18 balls — took Pakistan to 189 for four.
Scotland were unlikely to ever chase that down and they ended up on 117 for six after seeing out their 20 overs, with Richie Berrington at least enjoying a personal evening to remember as he finished on 54 not out.
The result means Pakistan will face Australia in the semi-finals on Thursday while Scotland will head home after a productive seven weeks in the Middle East.
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Pakistan had started slowly after electing to bat but finished so strongly that it meant the contest was effectively over by the halfway stage.
Scotland had kept it tight to begin with, restricting their full-member opponents to 35 by the end of the powerplay, and with Mark Watt unable to hold on to a difficult catch off his own bowling.
After 14 overs, Pakistan were still only on 97 and had lost the wickets of Mohammad Rizwan — caught behind off Hamza Tahir, making his first tournament appearance — and Fahkar Zaman.
Scotland sensed an opportunity but were blown away in the final six overs by a display of insatiable power hitting. Babar made his fourth tournament half-century before departing for 66, caught by George Munsey off the bowling of Chris Greaves.
Even after the captain departed, Pakistan kept the pressure on with Shoaib thumping the ball to all corners of the ground, hitting six sixes in all. Scotland needed to keep the final over tight to have any chance with Pakistan on 163 for four but Shoaib had other ideas, taking poor Greaves for three sixes and another boundary for 26 runs.
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Scotland never really looked like getting close to their target of 190 with Pakistan keeping them in check throughout the innings.
Only Berrington put in a performance to be proud of, with Munsey (17) and Kyle Coetzer (nine) again offering early promise before losing their wicket as Scotland’s World Cup campaign ended with a whimper rather than a roar.
Pakistan Innings
Mohammad Rizwan c Cross b Tahir 15 (19)
Babar Azam c Munsey b Greaves 66 (47)
Fakhar Zaman c Leask b Greaves 8 (13)
Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Sharif 31 (19)
Shoaib Malik not out 54 (18)
Ali not out 5 (4)
Extras (lb 3, w 7) 10
Total (20 overs, 4 wkts) 189
Fall of wickets 1-35, 2-59, 3-112, 4-142.
Mohammad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi did not bat.
Bowling Tahir 4-0-24-1; Wheal 2-0-20-0; Sharif 4-0-41-1; Watt 4-0-41-0; Berrington 2-0-17-0; Greaves 4-0-43-2.
Scotland Innings
H G Munsey c Haris b Shadab 17 (31)
K J Coetzer b Hasan 9 (16)
M H Cross run out 5 (8)
R D Berrington not out 54 (37)
D E Budge b Shadab 0 (2)
M A Leask b Shaheen 14 (14)
C N Greaves b Haris 4 (12)
M R J Watt not out 2 (3)
Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 7, nb 3) 12
Total (20 overs, 6 wkts) 117
Fall of wickets 1-23, 2-36, 3-41, 4-41, 5-87, 6-114.
S M Sharif, B T J Wheal and Hamza Tahir did not bat.
Bowling Shaheen 4-0-24-1; Wasim 4-0-17-0; Haris 4-0-27-1; Hasan 4-1-33-1; Shadab 4-0-14-2.
Umpires P Wilson and R Tucker.
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Abu Dhabi (Afghanistan won toss) New Zealand (2pts) beat Afghanistan (0) by eight wickets
In the first match of the day, New Zealand beat Afghanistan to book a semi-final clash with England on Wednesday, knocking out India before their final group game against Namibia.
Kane Williamson and Devon Conway put on an unbeaten 68 in just under ten overs to thwart Afghanistan’s spin bowlers in a comfortable eight-wicket victory. Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman could take only a wicket apiece, and both went at more than a run a ball.
Their seam bowlers had shone in limiting Afghanistan, who won the toss, to 124 for eight. Trent Boult led the way with three for 17, while Tim Southee, Adam Milne and Jimmy Neesham shared four wickets between them. Only Najibullah Zadran, who scored 73 off 48 balls from No 5, made any headway for Afghanistan.
Boult took the wicket of the dangerous Hazratullah Zazai for just two in his second over, and the left-arm fast bowler returned to remove Najibullah and Karim Janat.
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Afghanistan Innings
Hazratullah Zazai c Santner b Boult 2 (4)
Mohammad Shahzad c Conway b Milne 4 (11)
Rahmanullah Gurbaz lbw b Southee 6 (9)
Gulbadin Naib b Sodhi 15 (18)
Najibullah Zadran c Neesham b Boult 73 (48)
Mohammad Nabi c & b Southee 14 (20)
Karim Janat c Sodhi b Boult 2 (2)
Rashid Khan c Williamson b Neesham 3 (7)
Mujeeb ur Rahman not out 0 (1)
Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 3) 5
Total (20 overs, 8 wkts) 124
Fall of wickets 1-8, 2-12, 3-19, 4-56, 5-119, 6-119, 7-121, 8-124.
Naveen ul Haq and Hamid Hassan did not bat.
Bowling Southee 4-0-24-2; Boult 4-0-17-3; Milne 4-0-17-1; Neesham 4-0-24-1; Santner 2-0-27-0; Sodhi 2-0-13-1.
New Zealand Innings
M Guptill b Rashid 28 (23)
D Mitchell c Shahzad b Mujeeb 17 (12)
K Williamson not out 40 (42)
D Conway not out 36 (32)
Extras (lb 2, w 2) 4
Total (18.1 overs, 2 wkts) 125
Fall of wickets 1-26, 2-57.
G Phillips, J Neesham, M Santner, A Milne, T Southee, I Sodhi and T Boult did not bat.
Bowling Nabi 4-0-26-0; Mujeeb 4-0-31-1; Naveen 2-0-16-0; Hamid 3-0-14-0; Rashid 4-0-27-1; Gulbadin 1.1-0-9-0.
Umpires H Dharmasena and L Rusere.
