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Zimbabwe’s World Cup campaign ends after surprise defeat to Scotland

Following up on their success over the West Indies over the weekend, Scotland defeated Zimbabwe by 31 runs on Tuesday, eliminating them from contention for the last spot in the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualifying round. Following Scotland’s victory, a winner-take-all match against the Netherlands will be played on Thursday to decide who will join Sri Lanka in the 50-over World Cup in India, which will take place in October and November.

The winner of Sunday’s final between Scotland and the Netherlands will advance to the World Cup Qualifier competition taking place in Zimbabwe.

Scotland selected the same starting lineup that defeated the West Indies, while Zimbabwe elected to bowl after winning the toss. Chris McBride and Matthew Cross, Scotland’s openers, made a strong start despite some probing bowling, and the team was 35-0 after 10 wickets. The breakthrough came for Zimbabwe with the first delivery of the 17th over, when first-change bowler Tendai Chatara dismissed McBride for 28. Together, Cross and Brandon McMullen scored 46 runs for the second wicket, helping the team pass the 100-point mark.

Sean Williams bowled Cross for 38 off the opening pitch of the 26th over, bringing Scotland’s score to 102-2. Zimbabwe went through a successful period after that, and McMullen was caught for 34 off Williams two overs later by Blessing Muzarabani. In the 32nd over, Berrington was caught by Innocent Kaia for seven as Williams claimed his third victim and the score quickly changed to 118-4. George Munsey was subsequently joined at the crease by Tom Mackintosh, and the pair increased the total to 151 in the 40th over when the former was unluckily run out backing-up for 13. Richard Ngarava then dismissed Munsey for 31 in the 43rd over, with the score 168-6. When Chris Greaves was run out for one in the 44th over, Zimbabwe’s bowlers recorded their seventh wicket.
For Scotland to get up and over 200 people, Michael Leask had to show up, and the all-arounder did.

By the time he was caught by Ngarava off Chatara in the 49th over, he had scored 48 off just 34 balls, including three fours and two sixes, bringing the team’s total to 216-8. Up until the 50th over, when Scotland reached 234-8, Mark Watt (21 not out off 15 balls), and Safyaan Sharif (5 not out), were still in the game. With 3-41 from his 10 overs, Williams was Zimbabwe’s best bowler.
Sole’s first ball in Zimbabwe’s response was a cracker, continuing his excellent velocity and accuracy from earlier in the campaign. When it caught the outside edge of Joylord Gumbie’s bat and was caught behind by wicketkeeper Cross, it was virtually unplayable. When Sole bowled Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine for two runs in the third over, the host team had reached 13-2 and the fans had been remarkably quiet.

Scotland’s situation improved further in the seventh over when Sole dismissed Williams for 12, bringing the score to 29-3; in the eighth over, McMullen caught Kaia LBW for the same total, bringing the score to 37-4. To keep their side in the game, Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl understood they had to reconstruct things and stick around for a long, and they accomplished just that. Before Greaves persuaded Raza to smash a straight shot to Mackintosh, they had assisted Zimbabwe in reaching 91 and were looking good. That fifth wicket was a crucial one for the Scots since Raza had struck 34 from 40 balls. Wesley Madhevere joined Burl at that stage, who was doing well, and the two of them put up a 73-run sixth wicket stand.

With 40 from 39 balls, Madhevere was looking threatening, and it took a stunning catch from Watt to get him out of the game. In a nail-biting end, prospect Wellington Masakadza was caught by Berrington off McMullen for five at the start of the 36th over, and then, only seven balls later, Ngarava was caught and bowled by Leask. That wicket came from the first delivery of the 31st over, bringing Zimbabwe to 164-6. With Burl still there and undefeated on 70, Zimbabwe was reduced to 182-8, but the hosts were still very much in the game. Burl launched an attack, hitting a four and then a six against Leask off balls two and three of the 39th over. The very next pitch, when Burl was on 83 and facing his 84th ball, only managed to chip the ball to McMullen, who took a superb catch over his shoulder. Scotland was fervently hoping to get the kill, and with Zimbabwe on 197-9, they only needed one wicket to win while the hosts still needed 38 runs. Scotland reported a potential Chatara LBW from Safyaan Sharif in the following over, but upon review it was discovered that the ball had just slid down the leg side, leaving the Scot with 99 ODI wickets.

He didn’t have to wait long, though, as he bowled Chatara for two in the first delivery of the 42nd over to clinch the victory and become the first Scotland player to 100 wickets in this format.
The three wickets taken by Sole were supported by figures of 2-31 from McMullen and 2-33 from Leask, although every bowler and fielder contributed.

Now, on July 6, Scotland and Netherlands will meet in the match that will determine whether team advances as the second qualifier for the ICC World Cup Qualifiers. The person who travels to India will largely depend on the result of the next encounter between Scotland and the Netherlands. a nail-biting game that ends with victory for one team and defeat for the other.

Farzeen K

Farzeen K

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