Cricket World Cup 2023: Zimbabwe dream over after Scotland qualifier loss

Zimbabwe's 2023 Cricket World Cup dream is over after a 31-run defeat against Scotland in Bulawayo.

Victory would have confirmed the host nations' qualification, alongside Sri Lanka, for October and November's showpiece in India.

Scotland have now moved into second in the Super Six table but could still be overtaken by the Netherlands who they face in their final game on Thursday.

Having won the toss, Zimbabwe restricted Scotland to 234-8 after Sean Williams swapped his heroics with the bat for the ball to claim three wickets.

Michael Leask, coming in at seven, top scored with 48 and helped to add 55 from the final five overs.

That proved decisive as the tournament's host nation were quickly reduced to 37-4 in just the eighth over.

Ryan Burl's 83 from 84 balls was not enough to prevent the Chevrons slumping to 203 all out with nearly nine overs of their innings remaining.

It means a case of history repeating after Zimbabwe's failure to progress at the same stage in the 2018 Qualifiers, a competition where they finished third on home soil.

What they said

Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine told Sky Sports: "We did well to restrict them to 230. Unfortunately, that opening spell from Chris Sole put us on the back foot and it was extremely tough to come back from that position.

"At the end of the day, we fell short. Everybody's really gutted. It would have been nice to put those demons from 2018 to bed, but unfortunately we didn't. It's a moment we'll live with for a long time.

"I'm proud of the way we played our cricket and there's a lot of positives we can take from this tournament."

Scotland captain Richie Berrington told Sky Sports: "Incredibly proud of the lads - to show the fight that we did. We knew early wickets would be key - our bowlers have been fantastic throughout this tournament.

"Chris Sole has bowled a couple of fantastic spells in this tournament - it was great to see again today.

"We knew there were going to be tough games and I think we can take confidence from these last two wins, but we need to be stronger again against the Netherlands.

"Thursday will be another great occasion and another great event. The support from back home has been fantastic and there's a real good unity in this group."

This article originally appeared on BBC Sport

Photo: BBC Sport