World Cup qualifier: Scotland one game away from qualifying as hosts Zimbabwe miss out

Chris Sole was Scotland's man of the match with three early wickets

Scotland beat Zimbabwe by 31 runs to end the hosts' hopes of qualifying for the World Cup and move to within one game of the finals.

In what was a must-win game for both sides, Scotland set a total of 234-8 after being put into bat first.

Zimbabwe lost four wickets for 37 runs early into their innings.

And, although Ryan Burl hit an impressive 83 to put the game in the balance, Tendai Chatara was bowled by Safyaan Sharif as the hosts fell short.

• Scotland beat Zimbabwe as it happened

Sharif became the first Scot to take 100 international wickets, but it was three early wickets from man of the match Chris Sole that proved crucial.

Scotland will reach the World Cup for a fourth time should they defeat Netherlands on Thursday - and could even qualify with a narrow defeat - while Zimbabwe miss out for the second finals in a row.

Doug Watson's side had finished second in the first round of qualifying behind Sri Lanka for the Super Six series and are now in pole position to progress along with them again with only two teams progressing to the finals.

Scotland started impressively, with Matthew Cross, Brandon McMullen and George Munsey all breaching 30, but a mid-order collapse looked to have handed the momentum to Zimbabwe.

In the end, Mark Watt's tail-end 21 not out off the closing balls proved crucial in setting up a half-decent but reachable target for the hosts.

Sole's early wickets put Zimbabwe under increased pressure, only for home fans to sense the tide had turned as Sikandar Raza, who hit 34, and Burl piled on the runs.

However, after the latter's dismissal, it seemed only a matter of time before Scotland claimed a famous victory.

What they said

Scotland captain Richie Berrington told Sky Sports: "Incredibly proud of the lads - to show the fight that we did. We knew early wickets would be key - our bowlers have been fantastic throughout this tournament.

"Chris Sole has bowled a couple of fantastic spells in this tournament - it was great to see again today.

"We knew there were going to be tough games and I think we can take confidence from these last two wins, but we need to be stronger again against the Netherlands.

"Thursday will be another great occasion and another great event. The support from back home has been fantastic and there's a real good unity in this group."

Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine told Sky Sports: "We did well to restrict them to 230. Unfortunately, that opening spell from Chris Sole put us on the back foot and it was extremely tough to come back from that position.

"At the end of the day, we fell short. Everybody's really gutted. It would have been nice to put those demons from 2018 to bed, but unfortunately we didn't. It's a moment we'll live with for a long time.

"I'm proud of the way we played our cricket and there's a lot of positives we can take from this tournament."