Zimbabwe’s 2023 Cricket World Cup dream is over after a 31-run defeat against Scotland in Bulawayo.
Victory would have confirmed the host nations’ qualification, alongside Sri Lanka, for October and November’s showpiece in India.
Scotland have now moved into second in the Super Six table but could still be overtaken by the Netherlands who they face in their final game on Thursday.
Having won the toss, Zimbabwe restricted Scotland to 234-8 after Sean Williams swapped his heroics with the bat for the ball to claim three wickets.
Michael Leask, coming in at seven, top scored with 48 and helped to add 55 from the final five overs.
That proved decisive as the tournament’s host nation were quickly reduced to 37-4 in just the eighth over.
Ryan Burl’s 83 from 84 balls was not enough to prevent the Chevrons slumping to 203 all out with nearly nine overs of their innings remaining.
It means a case of history repeating after Zimbabwe’s failure to progress at the same stage in the 2018 Qualifiers, a competition where they finished third on home soil.
