Scotland captain Preston Mommsen is confident of his team creating a big impression in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India next year following their success in the qualifiers.
Scotland and Holland shared the World Twenty20 qualifiers trophy after the final was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Dublin on Sunday.
The third-place play-off match between Ireland and Hong Kong was washed out earlier in the day and the match between the two finalists followed suit as persistent rain fell in Malahide.
These four teams along with Afghanistan and Oman made the cut for the 2016 World Twenty20 following a 17-day event hosted by Scotland and Ireland that featured 14 Associate member teams, including the UAE.
The six qualifiers will join Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the first round of the tournament, beginning March 3, 2016. Two top teams from this stage will then make it to the Super 10 round comprising eight-Test playing nations, including defending champions Sri Lanka and hosts India with the final on April 3.
The full schedule of the tournament is likely to be finalised in two months.
Mommsen was delighted with the way his team stood up to the challenge in the qualifiers.
“We’ve had some down moments in Scottish cricket in the past few years. It’s awesome now to see some reward for all the hard work a lot of people have put in.
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“We want to go to India next year and make an impact. We’ve got a good batting line-up from one to 11, we don’t mind if we lose a wicket because we bat with confidence all the way down.“
He added: “It’s a shame about the weather today but it has been a really good tournament. It was great to be able to play at home and thankfully we were able to take advantage of those home conditions..
“The depth in Associate cricket is growing. The bottom teams are catching up. They are obviously doing a lot of work behind the scenes and that is paying off.
“Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Jersey, Oman and others are really performing well and that has to be a good thing for the global game.”
The Netherlands were keen to make amends after they missed the bus for the 2015 World Cup in Aus- tralia and New Zealand, according to captain Peter Borren .
“Failing to qualify for the Cricket World Cup this year was a massive blow to us and it could have been a huge setback for Dutch cricket but it actually spurred us forward,” Borren said yesterday.
“Our coach (Peter Drinnen) has really pushed us and we are far more professional now than we have been ever before. We are a pretty good side now. It’s not just that we have talented players – we have talented players who have worked hard together.
“We are very happy with our consistent performances, especially in the last four games,” he added.
