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They may not have qualified for the World Cup, but Zimbabwe's women have put in a creditable performance in this tournament, securing 5th place after another convincing win over Scotland. Batting firs, Zimbabwe scored 236/6 from their 50 overs, with Yvonne Rainsford (69), Sinikiwe Mpofu (48) and Julia Chibhabha (48*) forming the backbone of the innings. For the Scots, Fiona Campbell took 2/44. Scotland were then skittled out for 75, with Julia Chibhabha taking 4/16 and Precious Marange 3/22 on the way to a convincing 161-run victory.

Full scorecard below the cut.
Zimbabwe 236/5 (50 overs; Rainsford 69, Campbell 2/44), Scotland 75 (32.5 overs; 'Extras' 27, Anderson 13, Chibhabha 4/16). Zimbabwe win by 161 runs.

Zimbabwe's women got off to a good start in the Women's World Cup Qualifiers, with a win against Scotland in their opening match. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Zim set a target of 147 - Scotland were able to bowl them out in 39 overs, but Yvonne Rainsford (37) and Precious Marange (22) set the foundations for what proved to be a winning score. For the Scots, Kathryn White took 2/5 from her 8 overs.

In reply, Scotland's biggest ally was Zimbabwe's wayward bowling - the African side conceded 22 runs through wides, outscoring the Scot's best batswoman (captain Fiona Urqhart, who scored 10) by over 2:1. That still left Scotland well short of the chase, and with Zim's bowlers taking wickets almost at will, it was soon all over - Scotland were bowled out for 72, with Yvonne Rainsford and Emily Jinjika both taking 2/7 from 6 overs.

An excellent start for Zimbabwe, then, and Julia Chibhabha's comments about reaching the final maybe don't look so far-fetched after all. Full scorecard for this match is below the cut - Zimbabwe's next match is against Pakistan, tomorrow (19th).
Zimbabwe 147 (39/50 overs; Rainsford 37, White 2/5), Scotland 72 (31.2 overs; Urqhart 10, Rainsford 2/7, Jinjika 2/7). Zimbabwe win by 75 runs.

Zimbabwe got their first Twenty20 win under their belts with a 5-wicket victory over Scotland on Sunday. After winning the toss and electing to field, Zimbabwe restricted Scotland to 155/6 from their alotted overs, with captain Ryan Watson top-scoring with 64 not-out. Zimbabwe started well in reply, with Vusi Sibanda putting on 42 and Chamu Chibhabha scoring 43 as Zim successfully chased their target, scoring the winning runs with 7 balls to spare. A better performance for Zimbabwe this time out, then, although it was against weaker opposition - and Scotland's preparations for the tournament (or lack of them) have hardly been ideal, either. Full scorecard below the cut - Zim's first group match is on Wednesday (12th), against the mighty Australia.
Scotland 155/6 (20 overs; Watson 64*, Brent 1/20), Zimbabwe 156/5 (18.5 overs; Chibhabha 43, Haq 2/29). Zimbabwe win by 5 wickets.

Netherlands pulled off a surprisingly thorough win against felow Associate side Scotland, although for both teams this was their final appearance of this World Cup. Going into the tournament, Scotland were the top-ranked of the 5 Associate sides (excluding Kenya, who appear on the main LG ICC rankings and not the Associate version), but they've underperformed in the West Indies and Netherland were pleased to take the opportunity to secure a win for themselves. Batting first, Scotland collapsed to 136 inside 35 overs, a total that Netherlands had no problems chasing down.

Canada weren't so lucky, although they did make New Zealand work during thier final group match. New Zealand batted first and raced their way to an impressive 363/5 from their 50 overs, including 101 from Lou Vincent. In reply, Canada got off to a speedy start thanks to John Davison, who until recently held the record for the fastest World Cup century - he seemed keen to repeat the feat here, and some lose bowling from the Kiwis, particularly Michael Mason, allowed Davison to cut loose. For a while it seemed Canada were on course for an unlikely win, but after Davison fell in the 10th over, the flow of runs dried to a trickle. Canada only just failed to bat out their 50 overs, but by then they were well off the total.
Netherlands beat Scotland by 8 wickets.
New Zealand beat Canada by 114 runs

Another day, another drubbing for the Associates, as Scotland met South Africa and Kenya met New Zealand.

Batting second seems to be the smart thing to do at this World Cup, so Kenya followed the trend and put New Zealand in to bat after winning the toss, a decision that scored immediate dividends as Lou Vincent found himself walking back to the pavillion after a 4th-ball duck. That was the brightest spot of the innings for Kenya, though, as Fleming, Taylor, Styris and McMillan helped themselves to a feast of runs off the Kenyan total on their way to a total of 331 from their 50 overs. In reply, it was really only a determined stand of 71 by Ravi Shah, assisted by Thomas Odoyo's 42, that saved Kenya's blushes - 7 other batsmen failed to make double figures, including the usually-reliable captain Steve Tikolo, and the Kenyans were bowled out for 183, with New Zealand securing their place in the Super Eight in the process.

South Africa likewise won their toss and put Scotland in to bat, having apparently tired of batting practice against the Netherlands. Scotland didn't disgrace themselves, working their way to 186/8 from their allotted overs, with Dougie Brown top-scoring on 45 not out, but once South Africa came to the crease it was clear the match would be over well ahead of time. Captain Graeme Smith clubbed his way to 91 off 65 balls, de Villiers 62 off 67 balls, with Prince, Kemp and Pollock finishing the job after their departure in an innings that lasted just 23 overs. South Africa are now assured of their Super Eight place, while Scotland are assured of their trip home.
South Africa beat Scotland by 7 wickets
New Zealand beat Kenya by 148 runs

Next up: Zimbabwe v Pakistan, a game that Zimbabwe must win to remain in the tournament, and Sri Lanka v Bangladesh.

Groups A and C got underway yesterday, with Australia meeting Scotland and Kenya facing Canada. There was no fairytale for the Scots, sadly as the Aussies ran up 334/6 from their alotted overs, with Ricky Ponting picking up 113 as the Scottish bowlers proved unable to get to grips with some aggressive Aussie batting. Come their own turn with the bat, the Saltires again looked somewhat out of their depth - only Colin Smith, with 51 runs to his name, put up any real fight as McGrath and Tait scythed through the batting order. The 203-run winning margin will probably have the anti-Associate mob baying again.

Better luck for Kenya, though, in their Group C opener against Canada. The two sides have met several times this year already - the record before this match was 3-1 to Kenya, and yesterday's outing stuck to the form book as Kenya eased themselves to another win. Canada were bowled out for a respectable 199 in the first innings, with a series of comedic run-outs in the final overs somewhat spoiling their effort. Geoff Barnett top-scored with 41, while Jimmy Kamande (2/25) and Steve Tikolo (2/34) did the work for Kenya with the ball. Tikolo again showed his class with the bat, unbeated on 72 after Kenya rattled off the required total inside 44 overs & for the loss of just 3 wickets. What odds on Kenya carrying the Associate banner to the Super 8, I wonder?
Australia beat Scotland by 203 runs
Kenya beat Canada by 7 wickets

Thursday's matches: Sri Lanka v Bermuda in Group B, and the important one (for me, anyway), Ireland v Zimbabwe in Group D.

Apart from the Zimbabwe v Bermuda match, covered elsewhere, there were three other warm-up matched yesterday, all featuring the sides seeded 9-16: Ireland v Canada, Bangladesh v Scotland, and Kenya v Netherlands. All three went according to the seedings, so no surprises this time around.

Bangaladesh contained Scotland's scoring during the first innings and left themselves with a total of just 152 to chase, and with Habibul Bashar and Mohammad Ashraful both in good form the chase was over within 35 overs. Ireland trounced Canada after bowling them out for just 116 - Dave Langford-Smith picking up 4 wickets along the way. Ireland's bowling form has improved greatly during the warm-up games, and they'll now be seen as the best of the 5 sides who qualified through the ICC Trophy - and from a Zimbabwean point of view, that's quite worrying. Kenya maintained their winning record with a close 9-run win over Netherlands - three Dutch batsmen hit half-centuries to leave their side looking on-course for an upset, but their innings collapsed after the run-out of Ryan ten Doeschate.
Bangladesh beat Scotland by 7 wickets
Ireland beat Canada by 7 wickets
Kenya beat Netherlands by 9 runs

No surprises in the first round of warm-up matches, which all placed Full Members against Associates - although South Africa in particular will be breathing a sigh of relief, as Ireland at one stage had them at 98/8 before a timely performance from Andrew Hall saved their blushes. A worrying glitch for the world #1's, who have a reputation for choking at major tournaments, and also possibly worrying for Zimbabwe, who face Ireland in their first group match.

Also close was the West Indies v Kenya match - although with Kenya being easily the strongest Associate side & previous semi-finalists (2003), this maybe wasn't so much of a surprise. Scotland will be disappointed by the margin of their loss to Sri Lanka, coming off the back of their impressive form in the WCL Division One tournament, while Bermuda were on the receiving end of the first drubbing of the tournament after being bowled out by England for just 45 - inevitably bringing a fresh round of criticism at the inclusion of the Associates in the World Cup, but a look at the other matches should show that criticism to be mostly unfounded.
Sri Lanka beat Scotland by 159 runs
West Indies beat Kenya by 21 runs
South Africa beat Ireland by 35 runs
England beat Bermuda by 241 runs
Today's matches (6 March): Australia v Zimbabwe, Canada v Pakistan, Bangladesh v New Zealand and India v Netherlands.

Buried in their article about Douglas Hondo's international return, CricInfo have news that a tri-series between Zimbabwe, Kenya and Scotland is being considered, to be held ahead of the World Cup (given the current fixture lists, it would most likely be after the World Cricket League Division One tournament in Kenya). I guess there's no such thing as too many warm-up matches - and with Zimbabwe in the form they're currently in, you'd have to think Scotland would be eyeing a place in the LG ODI rankings if such a series went ahead (two wins against Zim would do the trick)...
CricInfo - Hondo return boosts Zimbabwe

CricInfo reports that Zimbabwe have withdrawn from the tri-series against Kenya and Scotland that had been proposed for January, citing lack of funds & other fixtures (Zim travel to Bangladesh in December, and according to the CricInfo report will be hosting Bermuda and Canada in January). The proposed series had caused some political problems for Scotland, so on one level they'll be pleased at the dilemma being resolved in this way - although on another level they'll be missing the opportunity to possibly take the scalp of a Test nation...
Scotland spared politically-sensitive meeting