New Zealand thump Afghanistan, eliminate India

New Zealand have claimed the last semi-final slot of the T20 World Cup with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory against Afghanistan in their final Group 2 match.

Their victory eliminates pre-tournament favourites India, who finish their group campaign against Namibia on Monday.

India needed the Black Caps to suffer an upset defeat but that never looked likely after New Zealand's pace attack, led by Trent Boult (3-17) and Tim Southee (2-24), restricted Afghanistan to 8-124.

That itself was a recovery with Najibullah Zadran smashing a career-best 73 to rescue Afghanistan from a top order collapse at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

New Zealand romped home in 18.1 overs to become the second team from Group 2, behind Pakistan, to make the semis. Captain Kane Williamson made an unbeaten 40 and Dean Conway 36 not out.

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T20 World Cup semi-finals

Nov 10: England v New Zealand, Abu Dhabi (6pm local, 1am Nov 11 AEDT)

Nov 11: Pakistan v Australia, Dubai (6pm local, 1am Nov 12 AEDT)

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New Zealand will meet England in the last four in a repeat of the 2019 ODI World Cup final, after Pakistan cruised past Scotland to set up a semi-final in Dubai with Australia.

Babar Azam hit a 47-ball 66 and Shoaib Malik cracked a blistering 18-ball 54 as Pakistan beat Scotland by 72 runs.

Mohammad Hafeez also joined the party with a 19-ball 31 to help them reach a commanding 4-189 in their 20 overs, with 114 coming off the final eight.

Pakistan reduced Scotland to 4-41 with Shadab Khan removing dangerous opener George Munsey for 17 before bowling out Dylan Budge for a duck to lay the foundation for another convincing victory in a tournament where they have been flawless.

"Strong performance," Williamson said after the game. "We know how dangerous this Afghanistan side is. "Nice for us to be able to set the tone with the ball, take wickets early and then keep them to below-par total."

"On this kind of pitch, this is not a decent total," conceded Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi. "We tried our best with the ball, (overall) we played good cricket in the tournament and we will take a lot of positives. We need to correct the mistakes we made with the bat."

Afghanistan finished the tournament with two wins from five games, with the victories coming against Namibia and Scotland.

Afghanistan players had been set to head to Australia for a Test match, but that fixture was 'postponed' last week, and the ICC is set to consider their status following the Taliban takeover of the nation.

2021 Men's T20 World Cup

Semi-finals

Nov 10: England v New Zealand, Abu Dhabi (6pm local, 1am Nov 11 AEDT)

Nov 11: Pakistan v Australia, Dubai (6pm local, 1am Nov 12 AEDT)

Final

Nov 14: TBC v TBC, Dubai (6pm local, 1am Nov 15 AEDT)

All matches live and exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports.

Click here for the full 2021 ICC T20 World Cup schedule

Click here for the full squads for all 16 teams

How the teams are grouped

Round 1

Group A: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia

Group B: Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Oman

Super 12s

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Namibia