Zimbabwe suffer an exit from World Cup 2023 Qualifier following 31-run loss to Scotland

Scotland trounced Zimbabwe in an exciting contest in Bulawayo, crushing Zimbabwe’s hopes and placing their chances of qualifying for the Cricket World Cup later this year in India. Zimbabwe lost by an unexpected 31-run margin to Scotland in the Super Six Stage, which knocks them out of the Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifiers.

Earlier, Zimbabwe’s skipper won the toss and invited visitors to bat first. After putting them to bat first, Scotland’s top-order batters produced important contributions in order to set the tone for the innings. However, Zimbabwe continued with their attempts to win, putting the opposition at 170/7 at one point owing to Williams’ three-wicket haul. Nevertheless, Michael Leask’s 48 runs off 34 balls helped Scotland get a respectable total of 234 against the hosts.

In response, the hosts were all reduced to 29/3 in pursuit of 235, and Zimbabwe was left chasing up relatively early in their innings as star batter Sean Williams departed for 12. Sikandar Raza, meanwhile, was on the ground, and it seemed everything was going well, but as he departed for just 34 runs, the hosts got down to 91/5. Although Ryan Burl produced a brave effort, Chris Sole’s opening spell with the new ball pulled down Zimbabwe’s batter and halted the weakened host from reaching their goal mark.

Zimbabwe is out, and Scotland is on the verge to enter the World Cup

The hosts had six points with a net run rate of 0.030 and were placed in second place in the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2023 Super Six Points Table. Earlier, Zimbabwe defeated Oman to start the Super Six stage by a narrow score of 14 runs, but during their second game, an explosive Sri Lankan side thrashed them miserably. Notably, after that loss, they needed to win this game convincingly to guarantee their spot in the Cricket World Cup 2023, but they were unable to do so as they lost in their must-win game.

Scotland already had a higher NRR than Zimbabwe, and their outstanding victory allowed them to edge out Zimbabwe and move up to second place in the rankings.