The Netherlands and Sri Lanka have booked their respective spots at the 2023 Cricket World Cup at the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe.
It means the Netherlands, who are an associate member, have beaten out full members the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland for a spot at the tournament.
While the Irish were knocked out during the group stage, and the West Indies entered the Super Six round with less than a major hope of proceeding through to the World Cup - to kick-off on October 5 in India - Zimbabwe's dismal run through the super six stage came as something of a surprise.
The qualifying tournament's host nation was undefeated exiting the group stage, but lost to Sri Lanka and Scotland during the super six stage, ending their hopes.
With Sri Lanka long gone and already having booked their place at the World Cup, and in the tournament's final, it came down to Thursday's encounter in Bulawayo to determine whether Scotland or the Netherlands would join Sri Lanka in India.
The Netherlands found themselves not only needing a win, but needing to win well with their net run rate behind, and when Scotland scored 277 which needed to be chased off just 44 overs, it felt as if it may have been a bridge too far for the Dutch.
But no one remembered to tell Dutch batsmen Saqib Zulfiqar and Bas de Leede that part of the script.
When the duo came together, the men in orange needed 115 runs off just 13.1 overs to qualify. They ultimately belted 113 of those runs off just 11.3 overs, with the Dutch scampering home the winning runs just three balls later, leaving 7 balls to spare in what will go down as one of the all-time great run chases.
At one stage, the Dutch needed 45 off 4 overs, only to hammer 42 off the next 2, with de Leede winding up on 123 from 92 balls.
The Netherlands and Sri Lanka will have one final hit out in Harare on Sunday in the tournament's final, but will now have their sights set on upsetting the world's top teams during the World Cup in India during October and November.
The ICC has as yet not confirmed which team will be which in last week's fixture release, with the two qualifiers to kick-off their campaigns in Hyderabad against Pakistan and Delhi against South Africa respectively.
Teams for 2023 ODI World Cup
Afghanistan
Australia
Bangladesh
England
India
Netherlands
New Zealand
Pakistan
South Africa
Sri Lanka
