Zimbabwe bowlers produced an impressive performance at the death to eke out an 11-run win over Scotland, registering their second successive victory in the qualifying round of the ICC World T20, in Zimbabwe on Thursday.
The win takes Zimbabwe a step closer towards qualifying for the WT20 tournament, who have a game in hand, against the spirited Afghanistan.
Batting first, Zimbabwe scored a decent 147/7 riding on Sean Williams's 36-ball 53 that had six boundaries.
In reply, Scotland were bowled out for 136 in 19.4 overs as they failed to score a gettable 30 runs off the last three overs with three wickets in hand.
Donald Tiripano (2/20 in 3.4 overs) and Tinashe Panyangara (1/20 in 4 overs) gave only 6 and 5 runs respectively in the 18th and 19th over.
Tiripano, who bowled the final over finished off the match with two balls to spare getting the final wicket of Aladair Evans.
The most successful bowler for Zimbabwe was pacer Wellington Masakadza with figures of grabbing 4 for 28. He is the younger brother of captain Hamilton Masakadza.
Zimbabwe should have won it easily with Scotland down at 42 for five in the eighth over before Richie Berrington (36) and Preston Mommsen (31) added 51 runs for the sixth wicket.
Earlier, Williams came in the fifth over and held the innings together till the 18th over, to notch up his second half century in T20 Internationals.
Brief Scores:
Zimbabwe: 147/7 in 20 overs (Sean Willians 53, Elton Chigumbura 20, Mark Watt 2/21) vs Scotland: 136 in 19.4 overs (Richie Berrington 36, Preston Mommsen 31, Wellington Masakadza 4/28, Donald Tiripano 2/20, Tinashe Panyangara 1/20).
Image: Zimbabwe bowler Tendai Chatara celebrates the wicket of Scotland batsman Mathew Cross during the ICC T20 World cup match played in Nagpur on Thursday
Photograph: Shashank Parade/PTI
