As it happened - India vs Scotland, Men's T20 World Cup, Super 12s

India outclassed Scotland and in doing so also bolstered their hopes of staying alive in the 2021 T20 World Cup.

It was a night to remember for birthday boy Virat Kohli. Everything went according to his plan. First, he won the toss. Then he watched as Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami bowled the opposition out for 85. KL Rahul whacked 50 of those runs all by himself and ensured victory with 13.3 overs and eight wickets to spare.

Full report to follow.

Goodbye.

Scotland only ever tried to attack 46 of the balls they faced. And for all that trouble, they made only 65 runs on top of losing five wickets.

India, within the first four overs, attacked 15 balls and scored 45 runs from them. Zero wickets. There. That's how much of a mismatch this was.

KL Rahul is doing nothing special. He's just responding to the balls coming at him. It's just that he's too good.

This is him against Brad Wheal

And this is him (and Rohit Sharma) against Alasdair Evans

India pulling no punches tonight.

Mohammed Shami is in a hurry to finish it off. He bowled Calum MacLeod off the pad. Then Safyaan Sharif was run-out. Then Alasdair Evans was yorked all the way to heck.

India need to chase 86 in 8.5 overs to go past New Zealand's NRR. And 7.1 to go past Afghanistan. But it's really about getting it as quickly as possible. 7.1 or 8.5 doesn't really matter because all three teams have another game to go. But it does look like India will not lose out on NRR, if it comes to that

It's a cool little tool that ESPNcricinfo has - and it's all thanks to our scorers who on top of logging in length, line, turn, inswing, outswing, where the ball has gone and how many runs have come also take the time put in whether a batter has attacked a ball or defended a ball. It's completely subjective, but it is still quite useful.

In this game, for example, Scotland have barely been able to attack the Indian bowlers. At 15 overs, this is how it looks

And you can see, even when Scotland have tried to attack, they've not got a whole lot of runs.

India's most successful bowler tonight, Jadeja, has been so good that Scotland only ventured six aggressive shots against him. All for a grand tune of just seven runs.

At the halfway stage, Scotland are 44 for 4.

ESPNcricinfo's forecaster says they will end up with 121 on the board.

That would actually be a brilliant effort, given how hard it has been for them.

Ashwin, Bumrah, Jadeja and Varun have all been excellent with both their lines and their lengths. The spinners have had even more going for them because of Jadeja's ability to turn one ball and not the other and Varun's various variations.

It's unavoidable.

George Munsey tried for a little bit, his flick for six against Jasprit Bumrah in the first over left more than a few jaws rooted to the floor.

But bit by bit, ball by ball, over by over, India took control. They've played more games. They play against the world's best virtually every single day. And while that can take a toll on them mentally, it does also prepare them to face these must-win situations.

Ravindra Jadeja comes on to bowl in the seventh over. One ball spins a mile - pitching on leg stump and taking down off. Richie Berrington bowled. Another ball doesn't turn one bit. It just skids through, gathering pace off the pitch. Matthew Cross lbw.

Our statsguru S Rajesh explains: if Scotland score 100 and India chase in 10 overs their NRR will go up to 1.162. If India had scored 200 and won by 100 runs, India's NRR would have been 1.378 (to answer whether India should have batted or bowled first.)

Obviously it's easier to score at 10 an over for 10 overs than for 20. To get a similar NRR (1.162) batting first, India would have to score 183 and bowl Scotland out for 100. Then India's NRR would be 1.166

Jasprit Bumrah went for his yorkers straight away.

Varun Chakravarthy was brought in, India desperate to cash in on his mystery against batters who have never played him.

Virat Kohli knows he needs a BIG win here. So he won't be pulling any punches. He shows it by giving his premier bowler another over in the powerplay.

Bumrah, who is so lethal at the back end of the innings, is unleashed once more and he takes out Kyle Coetzer with a slower ball.

The batter's feet were paralysed to the crease, expecting another spray of yorkers, but what he got was even better. A ball that completely surprised him. A ball that he just wasn't ready for.

India's current NRR is 0.07. New Zealand's is 1.27.

If Scotland score 100 tonight and India chase it in 10 overs, their NRR goes up to 1.16.

If India win their last two games – against Scotland and Namibia – by a combined margin of 120 runs (scoring 180), their NRR will improve further to 1.303.

Then it's all eyes on NZ vs Afghanistan. If Afghanistan win, NZ will be knocked out and India will be through so long as their NRR is higher than Afghanistan.

Following on from the scenario above, Afghanistan’s rate will stay above India’s only if they beat New Zealand by at least 12 runs (after scoring 150).

It's Virat Kohli's birthday and the fates align to let him win a toss.

India have decided to chase, mindful of the dew that comes in later in the evening. Varun Chakravarthy returns as India's third spinner in place of Shardul Thakur.

India: 1 KL Rahul, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

It's the same XI for Scotland. Kyle Coetzer says they have been playing against the best players in the world at this tournament and that they are looking forward to that challenge.

Scotland: 1 George Munsey, 2 Kyle Coetzer (capt), 3 Calum MacLeod, 4 Richie Berrington, 5 Michael Leask, 6 Matthew Cross (wk), 7 Chris Greaves, 8 Mark Watt, 9 Safyaan Sharif, 10 Alasdair Evans, 11 Brad Wheal