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Scotland didn't feature too highly in many pre-tournament favourites lists, but they were the only unbeaten team alongside hosts Zimbabwe, against whom they tied, until Sunday. Kyle Coetzer, the captain, suggested that their 25-run loss to Ireland had at least simplified the equation for them. "Not the result we were looking for today, but we know what's ahead of us now," said Coetzer. "We know what we need to do, and we can get our heads around that and prepare accordingly. It's a simple equation really, the West Indies game is pretty crucial." Scotland's decision to bowl first, albeit under grey skies, may have surprised a few but Coetzer defended the move. "I know it was still the right thing to do," he said. "It was a great pitch for a majority of the day, and it definitely swung and moved around early. You can always look with hindsight, but we created opportunities to take wickets in that innings." "The wicket got better as the day went along. It was a great batting track and the ball slid on nicely. Spin has been pretty crucial throughout this tournament, but there were no demons in that pitch." Coetzer's boundary-laden 61 had put Scotland on top in the early stages of their chase, but they then slipped from 94 for 1 to 132 for 6. "Unfortunately it didn't all go our way, and that's the nature of the game. We have to take that on the chin and pick ourselves up quickly," Coetzer said. "Maybe [we conceded]10 or 15 too many, but our bowlers came and bowled outstandingly at the start, and brilliantly at the end. "O'Brien and Balbirnie played some great cricket; they didn't give us a sniff, and credit to them for that. But we got ourselves back in the game with some excellent bowling at the death. That was definitely chaseable, on today's pitch. "We didn't quite nail it, and there were crucial moments in the game that maybe you could look back and think 'we should have done that differently'. There was a clear collapse in the middle there that put the pressure on, but you can see how close we did get in the end." Scotland still sit alongside Zimbabwe at the top of the points table, and a win over West Indies on Wednesday would assure them of a place in Sunday's final. "The tournament's been amazing. There's been some amazing cricket, some exciting cricket, and we're one of the two Associates here fighting for that place in the World Cup," he said. We've still got some points to prove. "We're learning a lot, and we're a very dangerous team. We know we are. This is our first loss of the tournament, and maybe it's what we needed to get us into gear for the next game."
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