Zimbabwe made it to the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup for the first time after an easy five-wicket win over Scotland in a Group B match here on Friday.
The win ensured Group B top spot for Zimbabwe as they joined India, Pakistan, South Africa, Bangladesh and Netherlands in the Group 2 of Super 12. For Scotland, it was the end of their campaign after the loss.
Pacer Tendai Chatara led a spectacular bowling show with figures of 4-1-14-2 as Zimbabwe restricted Scotland to a below-par 132 for six.
Chatara, who also became the first from Zimbabwe to take 50-plus wickets in T20 Internationals, checked the run flow with his accurate bowling.
Left-arm pacer Richard Ngarava (2/28) was a tad expensive, but he also gave a twin blow to Scotland who never managed to get going after captain Richie Berrington opted to bat.
In reply, Zimbabwe cantered home in 18.3 overs with their star all-rounder Sikandar Raza slamming a 23-ball 40, studded with three fours and two sixes. Raza earlier chipped in with 1/20 with his off-spin to be adjudged man-of-the-match.
"I don't think anyone could explain what it means. We've had the whole country behind us," Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine said about making Super 12 for the first time.
"The cricket we've played coming into the tournament has been special, so credit to the boys. We are looking forward to travelling around Australia now."
Ervine top-scored for Zimbabwe with a 54-ball 58 as he anchored the chase after they were reduced to 7 for 2 inside two overs.
First, he put together 35 from 39 balls with Sean Williams to repair the damage before Raza's impactful knock dashed Scotland's hopes of making the Super 12. The duo put together 64 from 43 balls in their fifth wicket stand.
Earlier, Scotland opener George Munsey (54 from 51b; 7x4) held the innings at one end and put together 40 runs with his skipper Berrington (13) but they never managed to step up their run-rate.
Berrington was dismissed by Raza, while Munsey became Ngarava's second victim. The Scots could not even manage to hit a six, which summed up the impressive Zimbabwean bowling effort.
"I felt we were 25-30 runs short with the bat, a few more would have allowed us to create more pressure in the chase," Berrington said.
"We've played some good cricket, so disappointing we didn't execute with the bat today. We can walk away proud with our performances, take a lot of positives from that moving forward," he added.
