T20 World Cup 2016: Scotland knocked out by Zimbabwe defeat as Afghanistan ease past Hong Kong

Scotland have crashed out of the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 following a second consecutive first-round defeat in Nagpur, Maharashtra, on 10 March. Peter Steindl's side, who are yet to win a single match during their three appearances in the tournament to date, fell short against Afghanistan earlier this week and were on the losing side once again as they trailed Zimbabwe by 11 runs at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.

Having won the toss and elected to bat first, the Chevrons, victorious over Hong Kong in their opening match, reached 147-7 behind an unbeaten 53 from Matabeleland Tuskers batsman Sean Williams and 20 from Elton Chigumbura. Vusi Sibanda was injured during an early run-out of skipper Hamilton Masakadza, but was eventually deemed fine to continue.

Scotland made a disastrous start to their reply, losing the quartet of George Munsey, Matthew Cross, Matthew Machan and Kyle Coetzer for a combined total of just 24. Richie Berrington, captain Preston Mommsen and Joshua Davey tried their utmost to salvage the tie, but their efforts proved to be in vain as Zimbabwe bowled them all out for 136. Spinner Masakadza led the attack with impressive figures of four for 28.

"It was a difficult start for us, they bowled well up front and we had the chance to have a crack at the end," South Africa-born Mommsen told BBC Sport after the match. "We knew we had to be positive, and had that partnership [with Richie Berrington] gone on another two or three overs, we might have made it."

Scotland's final fixture before flying back will be against Hong Kong, who have also been eliminated from contention courtesy of a comprehensive six-wicket defeat to Afghanistan. The competition's third lowest-ranked team could only muster 116 from their 20 overs and their opponents had little trouble in chasing down that total with two overs to spare as openers Mohammad Shahzad and Noor Ali Zadran notched 41 and 35 respectively.

Zimbabwe will meet Afghanistan on Saturday (12 March), with the winner set to top Group B and join a Super 10 pool containing Sri Lanka, South Africa, England and the West Indies. The focus will switch back to Group A before then, however, as Oman look to build on their shock victory over Ireland against the Netherlands in Dharamsala. The Irish also take on Bangladesh.