Zimbabwe had not played in a major ICC tournament in six years coming into this T20 World Cup, but they announced themselves as a team on the comeback trail as they marched into the Super 12s. Craig Ervine led with bat and in the field, as he anchored the Zimbabwean chase after managing his bowlers with pinpoint precision to keep Scotland to a gettable score, while Tendai Chatara and Sikandar Raza also made their experience count with telling contributions. This was only the 11th time in 55 attempts that Zimbabwe had won a T20I while chasing.
Asked to field first, Zimbabwe never allowed Scotland to get away from them. Chatara set the tone with a wicket in his first over and finished with figures of 2 for 14 in his four overs. He was well supported by Zimbabwe's spin trio, who conceded only 46 runs in the eight overs they bowled. George Munsey's half-century held Scotland together but their highest partnership was just 40 runs - for the third-wicket. Scotland also lacked the sort of turbocharged innings that Raza played to break the back of the chase.
Zimbabwe were nervy in reply and were 7 for 2 and 42 for 3 before Ervine and Raza put on 64 for the fourth wicket. Ervine dropped anchor and scored his sixth T20I fifty, and his first at a World Cup, and by the time he was dismissed in the 17th over, Zimbabwe were within touching distance of a win.
If Scotland sensed an opening when Ervine fell with 14 needed off the last three overs, Milton Shumba and Ryan Burl shut the door, rotating the strike calmly and finishing the job in just nine balls. Burl hit the winning runs in the 19th over when he lofted Safyaan Sharif over mid-on for four
Victory with more than an over remaining ensured Zimbabwe topped their group. They will join Group 2 in the Super12s, which includes their neighbours South Africa, India and Pakistan.