Hits a shorter length, it jags back viciously and pings the top of off! He wheels away into the arms of converging teammates! Scotland beat Ireland, West Indies and now another full member Zimbabwe! It's a heartbreaking moment for Zimbabwe as they realize they will not be booking a ticket to the World Cup in India. The realization sinks in, and a stunned silence fills the crowd. The dream of representing their country on the showpiece event has come crashing down. They were hot favorites to qualify for the World Cup but they miss out narrowly from making it to the marquee event. This tense game was an absolute roller coaster ride from start to finish. It was filled with thrilling ups and downs, ebbs and flows, twists and turns that kept us all on the edge of our seats!
Zimbabwe vs Scotland, 26th Match, Super Six at Bulawayo, CWC Qualifier, Jul 04 2023 - Match Result
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.
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
Floats it up on a full length and raps the pads, missing the leg stump by a mile but that doesn't stop him from screaming his lungs out and why not? Scotland are right on top and only a wicket away from a famous victory
Heaved away into the acres of spaces at deep midwicket
More flight on this occasion, lands it fuller on off, lunges forward, plants his front leg and dabbed to short cover
Tossed up on a full length and it turns away outside off, stays back in his crease and steers it away to point region
Lobbed up from round the wicket on a length and it straightens towards middle, goes back and defends it to the leg side
Shuffles across his off stump and clips it across the line to the leg side
Zargham: "Both betters need to make their highest scores to win it for Zimbabwe "
Jay suryawanshi: "No Zimbabwe please not this way "
Tharindu: "If this tournament showed anything, it is that ZIM, NL, SCOT all should have been playing in the World Cup. Too bad they restrict it only for 10 teams. Anyhow, so glad Sri Lanka didn't lose any of the matches, would have caused a heart attack.
zak: "Burl's face is the saddest thing I've seen today. It's heartbreaking failing to qualify after having such a good tournament. They've won all but the last two, and out." True that
Rakitha : "Why burl...why"
Yorker right in the blockhole, relentless appeal for an lbw, he is begging, he is pleading but the umpire adjudges it not out. Scotland decide to seek second opinion. There is no bat involved as Chatara's heart beats faster, pitching in line, impact also in line but missing leg stump! Excellent decision from the umpire under huge pressure. That looked pretty adjacent in real time
Rams the yorker and follows the batter who was shimming down leg, he manages to dig it out as mid-on swoops to his left and cuts it off
On a length and zipping away outside off, attempts a late cut and is beaten
Length ball, gets a bit of inward seam movement towards middle, gets hold of it with a firm clunk down the turf
Swing and a miss! Tries to slug it across the line but got beaten by the clever change of pace
Rapid full toss thumps on the pads and deflects towards point, beats his flick
Lobbed up, nice loop and lands it outside off, he flails at thin air
Tossed up fuller on sixth stump line outside off, forces it away to long-on and is off the mark
One big shot too many? Tries to continue in the imperious fashion but Leask sticks to his guns, lures him to go for the slog sweep again, this time he didn't get underneath it and mistimes it to McMullen at midwicket. That looks like the last nail in the coffin. He is in despair, slowly walking back into the dressing room. Once again, Scotland manage to find ways to break partnership. I can't imagine what Burl is going through
Swept with power, lots of bottom hand! That left a dent, a slog sweep into the oblivion, right underneath and got all of it. All the way to cause delirium in the stands
Latches onto the loose delivery, stabbed out to cover boundary and it races away to the fence
Throws the kitchen sink at it and is nowhere near the line of the ball, lobbed up, lots of flight and it spins away sharply outside off
Rajit: "If Zimbabwe fail to qualify, it's largely due to their reckless batting against SL. Had they resorted to consolidate at any time during that innings, they could've pushed the total to 220 or more and ensured SL will bat 40 overs, thereby improving their NRR "
Shaun: ""A Ryan Burl statue and knighthood if he wins this game for them.""
Low full toss on the pads and he cuffs it away square of midwicket, he was halfway down the pitch and Burl sends him back
1W | 1W | |||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
| Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo | |
| Toss | Zimbabwe, elected to field first |
| Series | |
| Season | 2023 |
| Player Of The Match | |
| Match number | ODI no. 4612 |
| Hours of play (local time) | 9.00 start, First Session 9.00-12.30, Interval 12.30-13.00, Second Session 13.00-16.30 |
| Match days | 4 July 2023 - day (50-over match) |
| Umpires | |
| TV Umpire | |
| Reserve Umpire | |
| Match Referee | |
| Points | Scotland 2, Zimbabwe 0 |