Scotland will be facing hosts Zimbabwe on Tuesday at the Queen’s Sports Club in Bulawayo. The match will be extremely crucial for both sides as they are required to win the fixture if they want to book a berth in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup.
The Scots have given a brilliant all-around performance since the start, especially their all-rounders and bowlers have performed whenever they were required. On the other hand, Sri Lanka and Oman have made a couple of loopholes in Zimbabwe’s bowling line-up visible.
What have they done so far?
Zimbabwe ended their group stage campaign in the ICC World Cup qualifiers in the top spot. They recorded wins over the likes of The United States, Nepal, Netherlands, and most importantly, The West Indies. In their first match of the Super Six, they faced Oman and the match was a close call. Sean Williams’ magnificent 142-run innings fueled Zimbabwe’s inning as they posted a valiant total of 332 in 50 overs.
On the other side, Kashyap Prajapati scored the second ton of the match to keep the Middle Eastern nation alive in the match. However, his attempt went in vain as the team collapsed in the last ten overs, which were supposed to be the most crucial overs of the match. In the second match, they squared off against the Group B toppers, which were also the most dominant side in the first phase of the qualifiers, Sri Lanka.
Playing at the Queen’s Sports Club, Maheesh Theekshana thrashed the Chevrons’ batting line-up. Zimbabwe’s top order which had the likes of huge hitters such as Joylord Gumbie, Craig Ervine, and Wesley Madhevere was dismissed for cheap bucks by Sri Lankan bowlers.
After six overs, the hosts were at the score of 30/3. Their last match’s hero, Sean Williams tried rescuing the Chevrons with his half-century, however, that didn’t help them much as after his dismissal, the whole team collapsed drastically. Chasing the target of 166, Pathum Nissanka annihilated the opposition’s bowling line-up with huge hits on all sides. And with the loss of one, Sri Lanka managed to keep their winning record perfect with another massive win.
On the other hand, Scotland was in the second spot in their group. They captured wins over Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and their arch-European rivals, Ireland. Nevertheless, their only loss came against Sri Lanka, which is the only unbeaten team in the qualification stage yet. Playing their first match in Super Six, the Scottish Saltires took on the second favorite, the West Indies.
The match was expected to be a close call, however, Scotland’s bowling line-up, which has been massively successful over the whole campaign, again delivered on time. Scottish all-rounder, Brandon McMullen took three wickets leaking only 32 runs in his nine overs. Thus, the Caribbean side, who were expected to bully other national sides, was helplessly back to the pavilion at a total of 181.
Therefore, the Windies’ bowling line-up, which has been out of form since the start of the main draw, was under a lot of pressure. However, Jason Holder sent Christopher McBride back on just the first ball but Matthew Cross and Brandon McMullen’s 125-run partnership ended all the Caribbean hopes. To end up things, the finishing touches were added by Scottish skipper, Richie Berrington. Consequently, they eliminated the West Indies from the qualifiers.
Head to Head Record
The sides have locked horns against each other on three occasions in ODIs. Coincidentally, their record has been fairly equal. Zimbabwe has won once against The Scottish Saltires. On the other hand, the European nation has also defeated The Chevrons once only.
Their last match took place in 2018 where both sides failed to get past the score of 210. Craig Ervine played a brilliant inning to carry Zimbabwe while Richie Berrington was the one who helped Scotland cross the 200-run mark. Nevertheless, their next match can’t be concluded as a draw because the concept of Super Over has been introduced.
Key Players
Brandon McMullen (Scotland): Brandon McMullen has been in brilliant form since the start of the group stage. In the first match, he took five wickets and in the next match, he scored a powerful ton. Moreover, against the West Indies, the 23-year-old scored a half-century and in addition to that, grasped three wickets.
Brandon McMullen has been in incredible form in the World Cup Qualifiers
The Scots have found their most powerful weapon as McMullen can bowl 10 overs and then come to bat at the 3rd spot. Thus, if he manages to score good runs and take a couple of wickets, the Chevrons will stand on the chance against the Scottish Saltires in the Super Six match.
Sean Williams (Zimbabwe): In the last couple of matches, especially in the Super Six matches, Zimbabwe’s bowling line-up has given disappointing performances. Thus, the pressure of winning has got shifted on the batters. Nevertheless, out of the whole batting order, one batsman had been standing differently, and he was none other than Sean Williams.
Williams has also scored a massive century portraying his ability to score big runs. On the other hand, he even managed to score a half-century with a strike of 100 against the bowlers of Sri Lanka such as Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana. Thus, his role will be the most crucial for the Chevrons against Scotland.
Predicted XIs
Zimbabwe: Joylord Gumbie (wk), Innocent Kaia, Sean Williams, Craig Ervine ©, Sikandar Raza, Wessly Madhevere, Ryan Burl, Brad Evans, Wellington Masakdza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava
Scotland: Christopher McBride, Matthew Cross (wk), Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Richie Berrington ©, Chris Sole, Tomas Mackintosh, Mark Watt, Safyaan Sharif, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves
Prediction
Zimbabwe’s astonishing momentum was broken by Sri Lanka in their last match as they successfully managed to win five consecutive matches. On the flip side, the Scots are on top of their form, especially after they took down two-time World champions West Indies. Thus, Scotland has a significant chance of securing the World Cup spot.