Wellington’s four-for helps Zimbabwe eliminate Scotland

Spinner takes four wickets as Zimbabwe defeat minnows by 11 runs

NAGPUR: Sean Williams stroked a brisk fifty before the bowlers ensured a second straight win for Zimbabwe, beating Scotland by 11 runs to knock the Europeans out of the World T20 qualifying round in Nagpur on Thursday.

Electing to bat, Zimbabwe suffered from a regular fall of wickets but Williams’ 36-ball 53 enabled the side to post 147-7, a score which proved enough against a seemingly brittle Scotland batting.

Skipper Hamilton Masakadza gave the new ball to his brother and left-arm spinner and man of the match Wellington Masakadza who bagged four wickets to help bundle out Scotland for 136 in 19.4 overs.



Zimbabwe though had a terrible start after a mid-pitch collision between the openers which resulted in the run out of Hamilton and an injury to Vusi Sibanda’s chin.

The incident forced a six-minute stoppage but did little to improve Zimbabwe’s batting prospects as wickets continued to tumble against a discipline Scottish attack.

Williams then mixed the right dose of caution and aggression to guide the side to a respectable score.



The Scotland batting also faltered against an inspired Zimbabwe attack that rattled the top-order to reduce them to 20-4 in 3.1 overs.

Richie Berrington and captain Preston Mommsen did put up some fight with their 51-run sixth wicket stand but Zimbabwe bowlers made sure they had the last laugh.



“This has been a long time coming. I am trying to help my team qualify. I tried to pick up wickets and put them under pressure early on and I’m glad it worked,” said Wellington.

It was the second group win for Zimbabwe, who had beaten Hong Kong in the opening game and will need to top the group to move into the Super 10 stage. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2016.

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