In a decisive clash in Bulawayo, Scotland not only beat Zimbabwe but also knocked their hopes of reaching the World Cup out of the window with a brilliant win on the back of a superb bowling performance.
Zimbabwe, after an unbeaten run into the Super Six stage of the competition, have crashed out of contention after back-to-back losses to Sri Lanka and Scotland.
This puts an end to Zimbabwe’s chances of competing in the World Cup.
Although it’s conceivable for them to tie Scotland and the Netherlands for third place on points, assuming that those two teams play each other, one of them will have a higher net run rate than Zimbabwe.
The match was thrilling. Scotland took their time laying the groundwork and eventually reached a score of 102-1 midway through the game. Following a middle-order collapse to 170-7, Michael Leask (48 off 34) and Mark Watt (21* off 15) assisted them in reaching a total of 234.
Zimbabwe would still have expected to reach their goal of 235 runs, but that seemed far away when Chris Sole bowled an opening spell that averaged over 90 mph and claimed three wickets.
Zimbabwe was 37-4 and out of it when Brandon McMullen defeated Innocent Kaia. Sikandar Raza was early discarded, but Ryan Burl and Wessly Madhevere mounted a middle-order comeback.
Burl was present, giving Zimbabwe hope when Raza and Madhevere fell for 34 and 40, respectively. When he slog-swept Leask to midwicket with 83 on the board, McMullen made a superb sprinting catch, and the match was soon over.
On Thursday, July 6, Scotland and the Netherlands will compete with a spot in the Cricket World Cup at stake.
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