In the shootout game between Zimbabwe and Scotland, the home team won the toss and elected to bowl first. In the game, both teams needed to win as they were looking to get close to one spot left in the ODI World Cup 2023 and the final of the Qualifiers. Meanwhile, in the game, the visitors got a slow but decent start given the pitch was two-paced.
The opening pair of Scotland, Chris McBride (28) and Matthew Cross (38) put together 56 runs for the first wicket. Both got starts but failed to convert it into a big score. The same was the case for Brandon McMullen (34) and George Munsey (31). Things got worse as they lost seven wickets for 170 runs in 43.1 overs. At this stage, the European side needed a miracle to take the team to a fighting total.
As it turned out, the likes of Michael Leask (48) and Mark Watt (21*) helped the team reach 234/8 on a difficult surface for batting.
Zimbabwe tried so hard but miss out on another ODI World Cup
In reply, the Chevrons had a poor start as Joylord Gumbie bagged a golden duck on the first ball of the chase. Chris Sole took his wicket and took two more to create problems. McMullen took one wicket in the powerplay alongside Sole’s three to create havoc on the Southern African side. The likes of Ryan Burl and Sikandar Raza put together 54 runs for the fifth wicket.
Everything was going fine for the Red Brigade before Raza took on Christopher Greaves and was caught at long off. Now, it was up to Burl and out of form, Wesley Madevere to take the team home. Both added another 86 runs and it seemed like the home team might finally make it to the final. However, the latter got out when the scorecard read 177 runs on the board. Despite Burl (83) doing his part, the tailenders fail to play their part, hence losing the game by 31 runs. With this loss, they are now eliminated from the race to ODI World Cup 2023.
This is how Twitter reacted
Pakistan Team reaction after Zimbabwe Exit from the World cup qualifier#CWC23Qualifiers#ZIMvSCO pic.twitter.com/uSkIstJB6g
— Ash (@Ashsay_) July 4, 2023
Babar and Rizwan after knowing Zimbabwe is out of World Cup.#ZIMvSCO #WorldCup2023 pic.twitter.com/tlpkCJ2Srm
— Rainbow Salt (@Rainbowsalts91) July 4, 2023
38-years old Sikandar Raza is devastated after the loss against Scotland. He gave it all for Zimbabwe for what could have been his last World Cup. #ZIMvSCO #ICCWorldCupQualifier pic.twitter.com/To1FhNrMxv
— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) July 4, 2023
Zimbabwe is out of World Cup :
Zimbabar Right now : ? pic.twitter.com/BPVNpjUfCz— Hardy?? (@Hardy410410) July 4, 2023
"2 different pictures but with the same emotions"#ZIMvSCO#PAKvSL pic.twitter.com/jwySsE8pzZ
— T?Ha? (@Talhashine) July 4, 2023
ZEC waiting for us in August ?#ZIMvSCO pic.twitter.com/YayCetQSjG
— Thabani Bryant. (@Kushweku7) July 4, 2023
They LOST to ZIMBABWE 8 months Back…#ZIMvSCO #ICCWorldCupQualifier pic.twitter.com/HNERoU6Gj2
— ?????? ? (@King3678180) July 4, 2023
Different Pictures But Same Emotions?.
We felt that before Sikandar Raza.#CWC23Qualifiers #CWC2023#ZIMvSCO #CWCQ23 pic.twitter.com/MDgWbHRwv6— Maheen (@jatt_wr413425) July 4, 2023
History repeats again and Zimbabwe fail to qualify for the WC for the 2nd time. Pressure gets the better of them again. I am afraid this loss is on RAZA. Got dropped on a poor shot but still attempted a ridiculous shot later.Has to be better than this in a must win game#ZIMvSCO pic.twitter.com/PQjlRpRvLE
— Vivek Yadav (@Vivek67320134) July 4, 2023
My heart goes out to Sikandar Raza. He scored 196 runs & took 12 wickets in the 2018 WC Qualifiers and 325 runs & 9 wickets in 2023. Sadly, Zimbabwe didn't qualify both times.
Heartbreaking despite his exceptional performance. #ZIMvSCO pic.twitter.com/KueFOSY68U
— Vipin Tiwari (@vipintiwari952) July 4, 2023
POV: Zimbabwe knocked out of WC qualifiers pic.twitter.com/nTMVoPIUyp
— retired ICT fan (@anubhav__tweets) July 4, 2023
