Cricket: The Netherlands and Scotland to decide second qualifier for 2023 World Cup
When you are playing in a Super Six, a star qualifier for the elite World Cup, all that matters is a win. And Scotland has been doing it again and again while inching its way towards a passport to India for the 2023 World Cricket Cup.
After decimating the former World Cup champions West Indies, the Scots now accounted for the hosts, Zimbabwe, in a tight game.
Yesterday, the Netherlands kept its ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 hopes alive with a Vikramjit Singh-inspired 74-run win (DLS) over Oman.
So finally, the battle for the second and last spot in the 2023 World Cup in India will be decided by the game between the two European teams – the Netherlands and Scotland.
Singh’s maiden ODI century powered the Netherlands to a mammoth total as they set a target of 363 for Oman to win.
Ayaan Khan responded with a ton of his own, but it proved in vain as Oman failed to pick up their first win of the Super Six stage.
The race for the second qualification spot has somehow gone in favour of the Netherlands as the hosts Zimbabwe lost to Scotland. The Dutch now need to win their final game to stand any chance of making it through.
Having been put into bat by Oman, Netherlands’ openers Singh and Max O’Dowd made a patient start, including sitting through a rain delay that shortened the match to 48 overs a side.
The duo’s century partnership was brought up off 103 balls before O’Dowd was bowled by Ayaan Khan for 35, ending the stand at 117.
Singh continued to motor as he reached his maiden ODI century from 102 balls before he was eventually undone holding out to mid-on having made 110 with 11 fours and two sixes.
In pursuit of what would have been their record chase, Oman lost regular wickets with Jatinder Singh run out on 17 before fellow opener Kashyap Prajapati departed for 25 to leave Oman 78 for three.
After Mohammad Nadeem was bowled by Aryan Dutt for 16, Ayaan Khan and Shoaib Khan rebuilt, putting on 112 for the fifth wicket, but they could not stop their side from falling well behind the required run rate.
Ayaan Khan reached his hundred off 84 balls having benefited from several slices of luck to get there as he was dropped three times early in his innings.
And the all-rounder was there at the end as bad light ended the game prematurely with Oman 74 runs from their DLS target.
Ryan Burl’s 83 looked as though it might get the hosts out of trouble, but he was dismissed by Michael Leask, Scotland’s hero on the day, taking Zimbabwe’s hopes with him. The win moves Scotland level with Zimbabwe on six points in the Super Six, with one match still to play against the Netherlands.
With the Dutch also on four points, that game will decide who joins Sri Lanka in qualifying for the World Cup.
Zimbabwe could have secured a place in India with a win in this game, but instead saw its hopes vanishing with its net run-rate worse than both the Dutch and the Scots.
The other game of the day saw Ireland come out on top in a thriller against Nepal, winning by two wickets with four balls to spare to claim seventh place.
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