Scotland have beaten Zimbabwe in a thriller at Bulawayo to put themselves on the brink of Cricket World Cup qualification, and end Zimbabwe’s hopes in the process.

Scotland can now confirm their place in this October’s event with victory over Netherlands, and even if they avoid a sizeable defeat, that could be enough.

For Zimbabwe, this brings an end to their World Cup hopes. While they had begun in style, winning their first five games as Sean Williams embarked on a stunning run of form, consecutive defeats to Sri Lanka and Scotland have seen them crash out. While it is possible for them to finish level on points with Scotland and Netherlands, given those two teams play each other, one of them will end up with a better net run rate than Zimbabwe.

The game itself was a thriller. Scotland took their time to build the platform, making their way to 102-1 at the halfway stage. A middle-order collapse then followed, to 170-7, before Michael Leask (48 off 34) and Mark Watt (21* off 15) helped them to 234.

Zimbabwe would still have backed themselves to chase 235, but that looked a long way away when Chris Sole bowled an opening to spell, regularly topping 90mph and taking three wickets. When Brandon McMullen saw off Innocent Kaia, Zimbabwe were 37-4 and out of it. However, Sikandar Raza, dropped early on, Ryan Burl and Wessly Madhevere staged a middle-order fightback.

Raza and Madhevere fell for 34 and 40 respectively, but with Burl there, Zimbabwe had hope. He had 83 when he slog-swept Leask to midwicket, where McMullen claimed an excellent running catch, and victory was soon wrapped up.

Scotland and Netherlands play on Thursday, July 6, with Cricket World Cup qualification on the line.