Scotland and Netherlands to fight for the remaining spot: 2023 CWC Qualifier Super Sixes Match 8 Preview and Prediction
As we are towards the end of the CWC Qualifiers 2023, we witnessed some of the classics in the past couple of weeks including Netherlands’ splendid outing against West Indies that went down to the wire, also Scotland’s scintillating victory over Zimbabwe to end their campaign.
Hosts Zimbabwe, who were going pretty well in the tournament were knocked out on Tuesday after a 31-run defeat over Scotland. With this win, Richie Berrington’s men are closer to the remaining spot and have also given a golden chance to the Netherlands to qualify for the main event.
Match 8 of the CWC Qualifiers will be like the semifinal one for both sides. Scotland is just a win away from getting their dream spot whereas the Netherlands have to win by a huge margin to make an impact.
Now, as Sri Lanka already booked its spot for the main event, it is still to be seen who gets the ticket for the second spot. Both Netherlands and Scotland are capable of turning the tables as per their past performances.
What have they done so far?
Scotland has been terrific in the tournament in all the departments. Apart from their loss against Sri Lanka, they won all their matches with the biggest one coming against West Indies where they defeated Shai Hope & Co. by 7 wickets.
In their recent outing against Zimbabwe, they showed their class with the ball as they defeated the home side by a decent margin of 31 runs. After batting first, they just posted 234 runs on the board which was quite chasable for a team like Zimbabwe.
On the other hand, the Netherlands too, had a good tournament with overall four victories out of six matches. It’s a must-win game for them and that too with a lot of luck in their favour. The match against West Indies will go down as one of the finest in the history of CWC Qualifiers. They just held their nerves in the Super Over and turned things in their favour.
Now, both Scotland and Netherlands must be aware of the conditions after playing so much here at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo. It would be interesting to see what these cricket-playing nations would do in the major battle on Thursday.
Head to Head Record
They are not the newcomers when it comes to playing head to head as both of them have faced each other 11 times in ODIs out of which Scotland has the upper hand with 7 victories. The Netherlands, on the other hand, won just 3 matches so far while one game ended with no result.
Key Players
Scott Edwards (Netherlands): Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards has been a crucial player for his side with 288 runs in the tournament to date. He has the highest number of fifties in the tournament with four to his name. This shows his consistency and a similar performance would be required from him ahead of the crucial game against Scotland.
Scott Edwards playing a shot in one of the CWC Qualifiers matches
He played some fabulous knocks with the highest one of 83 coming against Zimbabwe in a losing cause. This time his team would be hoping for a century from him and that too in a winning cause.
Chris Greaves (Scotland): With 13 wickets in the tournament, Chris Greaves is the only player in the tournament with a 4-fer as well as a 5-fer to his name. The right-arm leggie has impressed everyone with his line and length and his ability to beat the batsmen.
On the pitches of Zimbabwe, it is never easy for a spinner to get these many wickets but Greaves has done it like a champion player. Now, in a crucial battle against the Netherlands, the 32-year old would like to repeat his heroics to take his team through to the main event in October.
Predicted XIs
Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Wesley Barresi, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards © (wk), Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Ryan Klein, Aryan Dutt, Clayton Floyd
Scotland: Christopher McBride, Matthew Cross (wk), Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Richie Berrington ©, Tomas Mackintosh, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole
Prediction
Scotland is the favorite to win the game because they have an extra victory over the Netherlands. With their recent heroics against Zimbabwe, they are having an upper hand here as well.
On the other hand, the Dutch team cannot be ignored because of their past performances against big teams. They have big hitters in their side who can turn the game in their favor at any point but with the pressure of beating Scotland with a huge margin, the Netherlands can choke at any time in the middle. Therefore, Scotland can be the second team to qualify for the main event.