Scotland's Sole-stirring bowling display knocks Zimbabwe out of World Cup
Ryan Burl's career-best ODI score not enough as Zimbabwe fall short of 235-run target
Ryan Burl's career-best ODI score not enough as Zimbabwe fall short of 235-run target
Scorer: K Vairavan | Commentator: Rvel Zahid
I hope you've enjoyed the live commentary and felt the excitement during this thrilling encounter. Until next time, take care. This is Rvel Zahid, signing off on behalf of Madushka Balasuriya and K Vairavan.
Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe Captain: It's a very difficult pill to swallow. I thought we did well to restrict them to 230. Unfortunately that first initial spell from Sole really put us on the back foot and just made it hard for us to recover from that position. Throughout the tournament, we played some extremely good cricket. It's always nice to put those demons from 2018 behind us and had we gotten over the line today, nobody would have been asking about that but unfortunately, we didn't. Williams has been fantastic and we can take a lot of positives away. I'm extremely proud of the guys, and for the amount of work and effort. We're really thankful for the crowd that has come and supported us, especially over the last few weeks. I think we are playing a very exciting brand of cricket and that is the reason the crowd are coming out to support us.
Richie Berrington, Scotland captain: Our boys have been fantastic. Credit to the way the lads played today. The way we came out and showed faith in the second innings and got those early wickets was fantastic. Really proud of the boys. Our bowlers have been fantastic all tournament. Really pleased for Chris Sole to get the man of the match today. He bowled a couple of outstanding spells throughout the tournament. We knew there were going to be tough games and come to a stage where we would be in a must-win game. We did well today but it's a quick turnaround to the game against the Netherlands. We will take a lot of confidence but it's going to be a tough game. We take a lot of pride in playing for Scotland. Support from back home has been fantastic, it makes a big difference. I think it's important that we just keep backing up these last few performances. There's also a really good unity within this group which makes a huge difference so yeah, hopefully we can kick on from here.Â
The target was 235 but the way Scotland started made it look like 350! It was chaos all over the place when Sole came spitting fire in the opening burst and ripped the heart out of top order! Zimbabwe found it incredibly tough to contend with the hostile pace and unbridled aggression from Sole. He bowled a spell that will be remembered for posterity. The 29-year-old unleashed his fury like an unchained lion, roaring and spreading terror among the batters who were in absolute disarray. The openers completely failed in seeing off the new ball threat. The pitch was offering fierce bounce, and some nip as the Sole-Mcmullen duo tightened the screws to the limits. Then Sikandar Raza came out when Zimbabwe were four down but knowing he is a man who thrives in crisis situation, he did what he does best; he showed some responsibility and stitched a partnership with Burl as runs started to flow. Scotland released the pressure and dropped a chance in the eighth over but it didn't prove very costly as Raza's wicket in the 18th over made the chase an uphill task. Scotland kept chipping in with wickets and punctured Zimbabwe's chase at regular intervals and the wicket of Burl proved to be the last nail in the coffin. Scotland are now in a strong position to book a place in the World Cup!
Zimbabwe in the last two ODI World Cup qualifiers:
2018 - Won, Won, Won, Tie, Won, Lost (vs WI), Lost (vs UAE) 2023 - Won, Won, Won, Won, Won, Lost (vs SL), Lost (vs SCO) They needed to win only one of their last two matches in both tournaments to qualify for the World Cup, but lost in both games in both events.
Dev: "About time ICC have to make sure both Scots and Dutch given more opportunities in international cricket if possible Test status too..!"
john m: "so its a scots vs dutch shoot out for the 2nd qualification spot...! wouldn't have called that at the start of this tournament...."
SM: "@Rvel: Zim officially out of WC, and now it's between Scotland and Nederland?" Yes, they are out. The margin by which Scotland will have to lose to push their NRR below Netherlands will push Netherlands' NRR above Zimbabwe's
TL Chatara b Sharif 2 (23m 14b 0x4 0x6) SR: 14.28
Ryan Burl's career-best ODI score not enough as Zimbabwe fall short of 235-run target
As in 2018, Zimbabwe fell short in the last two games of the Qualifier, leaving a boisterous home crowd in shock