T20 World Cup | Rabada turns hero from villain, picks up the first hat-trick in T20I history for South Africa

T20 World Cup | PAK vs SCO: To get either Babar or Rizwan out would be massive achievement, says Safiyaan Sharif

Scotland’s Safiyaan Sharif has expressed excitement about the T20 World Cup fixture against Pakistan scheduled to take place on Sunday in Sharjah. Sharif who was born in Huddersfield to a Pakistani father and a British-Pakistani mother has been Scotland’s leading wicket-taker since the beginning of the Super 12 stage. "It's going to be exciting. I've got a Pakistani background and my family is Pakistani so it's definitely one I've been looking forward to,” he said while talking to ESPNcricinfo. Sharif further added that scalping a wicket of either Pakistan captain Babar Azam or wicket-keeper batsman Rizwan will be a massive achievement. “It would be good to pick up either Babar Azam or Mohammad Rizwan,” he said. "To get either of those two out would be a massive achievement: they don't give their wickets away easily. If we can get the two openers out early, I think Pakistan will be under a bit of pressure,” he added. Pakistan have already qualified for the semi-final after winning all the four matches and would be looking to continue the momentum against Scotland as well.

Rassie van der Dussen’s 94* becomes highest individual score for a South African in T20 World Cup

Rassie van der Dussen was in the brightest of the forms as he went on to record the highest individual score in a T20 World Cup game for any South African batter, getting past Herschelle Gibbs’ unbeaten 90 which he scored in 2007. Rassie scored unbeaten 94 to take his team to 189 in 20 overs on a low and slow Sharjah track to give themselves a chance for semi-final qualification. Courtesy of the 32-year-old’s superb innings, which was well complemented by Aiden Markram, who hit his sixth T20I fifty, the Proteas reached 189. Now to qualify for the semi-final the gree brigade must halt the England innings on or before 131. Asked to bat first after losing the toss, the Proteas were cautious initially as they lost Reeza Hendricks early on. But once settled, Rassie and Quinton de Kock went on the offence and added 71 runs in just 52 balls to give a launchpad for other batteries to strike from. But after de Kock’s dismissal, not many other batters were required. Markram partnered Rassie and the duo added an unbeaten 103 in just 52 balls to take their team to a total that can be defended. The conditions in Sharjah have changed incredibly in the second innings as the ball is getting wet right from the start due to a lot of dew. Courtesy of that England are already on 50 without any loss after the fifth over, although Jason Roy has retired hurt due to cramps.

T20 World Cup | With support of billion Indians, Afghanistan dare to dream against New Zealand

The buildup The ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup has thrown more surprises than anyone would have expected and it can be established by the fact that one of the firm favourites are already out of the race for the semi-finalists spot and another one are just clinging on to a glimmer of hope on the brilliance of a side who were considered a mere participant before the start of the tournament. It doesn’t happen every day that a game between two sides has more meaning for a third side that is not a party in the contest, but the game between New Zealand and Afghanistan is one such rare occurrence. When Mohammad Nabi will lead his Afghan warriors onto the field against the Blackcaps, he would surely know that they would be carrying the hopes and opportunities of a billion people from India. They would be aware of what their victory could achieve for the men in blue, but will that make them play any different? Hard to say yes to that question but it would certainly give them the freedom to put all their heart and soul into the game because they could too replace India and New Zealand if they win big. India would celebrate even a win for them, and more so a close win for them as their net run rate will make them firm favourites to go through. On the face of it, Afghanistan have triumphed more than they could have aspired to before the tournament and hence how motivated they would be and how much belief they would have in themselves to beat both New Zealand in the game and India on a net run rate basis will dictate the flow of the game. On the other hand, New Zealand are a more settled side and the world knows what they bring to the table. They have filled their batting order with swashbuckling stroke makers and all-around batsmen such as the skipper Kane Williamson to arrest unaffordable situations while batting. They have banked on their pace attack led by the experienced duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult to do the bulk of damage but their spin twins of Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner have not been a walkover either. Instead, they have been a force to be reckoned with and choked the Indian batting unit to the brink of early elimination from the tournament. Now, having seen all of the conditions on offer in the tournament, New Zealand should fancy their chances to advance through the semi-finals having beaten India in one of the two stiff competitions they were to deal with before the tournament had begun. However, close contests against both Scotland and Namibia for a considerable length of the games don’t make them indomitable favourites to win the game and there lies the anticipation of a contest and a big build-up for the game. Contest within contest Williamson vs Rashid A lot of the reasoning behind not making New Zealand a clear favourite is the presence of quality spinners in the Afghanistan team and the best of them all is Rashid Khan, who is quite capable of turning things on his own in a maximum of four overs. He has been held back and has been used strategically after the end of powerplay by Nabi and if the trend continues, he would have to take on Kane Williamson, who is the best batsman against spinners in the Blackcaps squad. If the Kiwis have to break the spinners' outright dominance on them, Williamson will have to be the man with the bat for the Blackcaps while Rashid has been the trump card for all the sides he plays and the story will be a lot more serious in the game. If Afghanistan have to halt New Zealand to either qualify or raise their reputation at the world stage and earn the huge wave of love from India, Rashid will have to spin a web around the Blackcaps batting unit and that can’t be made possible without eliminating the threat of Williamson. Match details New Zealand vs Afghanistan, Match no.: 40, Super 12 Group 2 Date & Time: Nov 07, 02:00 PM LOCAL, 03:30 IST Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Pitch conditions The pitches in Abu Dhabi have been quite supportive to the pace bowlers and Kagiso Rabada’s dominance over Bangladesh and Josh Hazlewood’s dominance over the West Indies batting unit shows some sort of pattern and should impart huge confidence in the New Zealand bowling unit. On the other hand, there will be no due to come as a relief for batsmen and that will give Afghanistan spinners a chance to extract the best out of the surface when the ball will be absolutely dry. Afghanistan have been an outlier in the tournament with their eagerness to bat first and defend a total except for the last game against India and the pitch conditions in Abu Dhabi and hammering they got at the hands of India should force them to go back to their tried and tested tactic. However, batting first will bring Kiwis pacers into the game and in a way, the game will be decided on how good or bad the two batting units bat against each other’s bowling unit. Team news Afghanistan Afghanistan had to field their playing XI without Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the last game against India and all including the Indian team are hoping for his return to full fitness for the big game for all three sides. Apart from him, there is no contention for places in the side and Mohammad Nabi should field a settled XI in their last game of the tournament which could also be their last game for some time at such a big stage. Probable XI Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (WK), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (C), Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Hamid Hassan. New Zealand New Zealand have no reasons whatsoever to change their performing playing XI for one final big game before the big semi-finals. They will carry on with playing the pace trio of Southee, Boult and Adam Milne and the pitch in UAE should give them plenty of hope and excitement against Afghanistan, who are not known for their abilities against high pace and quality swing. Probable XI Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (C), Devon Conway (WK), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult. CE Fantasy XI Devon Conway, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Mitchell Santner, Karim Janat, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi and Rashid Khan Captain: Kane Williamson Vice-captain: Rahmanullah Gurbaz

T20 World Cup | AUS vs WI: Gayle hugs Mitchell Marsh after scalping his wicket; watch video

Chris Gayle being himself showed a hilarious gesture when he hugged Mitchell Marsh after scalping his wicket during the T20 World Cup fixture between Australia and West Indies in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. West Indies captain Kieron Pollard tossed the ball to Gayle while his side was on the way towards a defeat against the Aussie. The Aaron Finch-led side needed just one run when Gayle removed Marsh after he was caught by Jason Holder for a 53-ball 32. Talking about the game, Australia thumped West Indies by 8 wickets after Warner and Marsh stitched a partnership of 124 runs for the second wicket while chasing a target of 158 runs. Warner remained unbeaten at 89 off 56 that included four maximums and nine fours during the course. Earlier, in the day, the Australian bowlers restricted West Indies to 157/7 in 20 overs. Captain Kieron Pollard tried to hold the fort from one end but he didn’t really get support from the other end and was eventually dismissed for 44 off 31. Apart from Pollard, Andre Russell who had been struggling with form chipped in with a brisk 7-ball 18*.