Scotland suffer T20 World Cup blow with defeat by Namibia

Calum MacLeod scored 39 runs but Scotland lost to Namibia. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Scotland's chances of reaching next year's T20 World Cup suffered a blow as they lost by 24 runs to Namibia in Dubai.

A second defeat in four matches leaves Scotland fourth in Group A, with a total of six teams from two groups progressing to next year's showpiece in Australia.

The Saltires had recovered from a shock defeat to Singapore in their opening qualifier with wins against Kenya and Papua New Guinea, but rarely looked like chasing Namibia's total of 159 for six.

Gerhard Erasmus hit 37 from 26 balls and JJ Smit cleared the rope four times in adding 43 off 22 to take Namibia to a strong score.

Calum MacLeod (39) and Richie Berrington (23) shared a third-wicket stand of 48, but six wickets then fell for 40 runs as Scotland came up well short.

Scotland must now beat Bermuda and Holland in their last two group games to be certain of a place in the knockout stages.