T20 cricket: Scots confident ahead of Italian job

Gordon Goudie: Chasing dream. Picture: SNS

The Scots booked their place in the play-off stage thanks to a 75-run win over Denmark on Sunday.

The victory secured fourth place in Group B but, had the Danes been restricted to one run fewer, Scotland would have beaten Nepal to third spot and given themselves a better chance of qualification.

Reflecting on that match ahead of today’s game against the Italians in Abu Dhabi, Goudie said: “We won and we won really convincingly so that was the high point.

“It meant that we were through to the play-off stages but we were disappointed about narrowly missing out on third spot. Everybody is feeling confident and, hopefully, we can get the win and take that into the second play-off game.”

Scotland face the loser of the match between the Netherlands and UAE in their second play-off and Goudie added: “We are just focusing on this game for now before looking ahead to the next game.”

Scotland endured a difficult start to the group, losing to Bermuda and Afghanistan, before picking up their first win against Nepal. Another loss to Kenya followed but they were back on track with victories over Papa New Guinea and the Netherlands before coming out on top against Denmark.

West of Scotland all-rounder Goudie said: “We had a bit of a shaky start, but we have had a few wins under our belts now and that was crucial. We are just looking to carry that on now.”

Victory in both games would secure a place at the World Cup and Goudie admits qualification would be a dream come true for Scotland’s cricketers.

He said: “It would mean a lot to everyone to qualify. That’s what you set out to do when you play cricket, you want to play at the highest level for your country. You would be doing that by going to the World Cup.”