Munsey's 132 edges Scotland towards T20 World Cup

Berrington was almost as fluent as Munsey and his 40 off 19 balls helped Scotland set a daunting target

George Munsey made a blistering 132 as Scotland thrashed Austria by 166 runs in Edinburgh to move a step closer to qualifying for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Michael Leask took three wickets as Austria limped to 66 all out.

Scotland's fourth consecutive win takes them top of the seven-team standings, ahead of Ireland on net run rate, with the top two qualifying for the finals.

Germany, the only side who can realistically catch Scotland, face Jersey later on Tuesday then play Ireland on Thursday at the same time as the Scots take on Denmark in their penultimate match.

Scotland's last game is against the Ireland, who are ranked two places above Richie Berrington's side at 12th in the world.

If Scotland win one of their two remaining games, Germany would need to win all three of theirs and dramatically improve their net run rate to finish ahead of the country hosting this qualifying tournament.

Berrington's men went into the Austria game 24 hours after a handsome victory against Italy that followed a rain-affected win over Germany and a tight 14-run success against Jersey.

Oli Hairs was the star of the Italy victory, equalling Munsey's previous highest T20 score with an unbeaten 127, but this time he made just 23 in an opening partnership of 96 before being caught on the boundary.

Munsey continued to dispatch the Austria bowlers to all parts of the Goldenacre ground, with his reverse sweep especially productive as he reached his second T20 international century off 50 balls.

A single down the ground took Munsey to the new record of 128 before he was out lbw reverse sweeping.

Brandon McMullen struggled for fluency with 28 off 29 balls but Berrington impressed with 40 off 19 to help Scotland set Austria a daunting target of scoring at 11.65 an over to reach 133.

Austria were clearly intent on trying to make a credible score rather than chasing their unlikely target and off-spinner Leask was the pick of the bowlers as Scotland cruised to victory.

Chris Greaves, Gavin Main and Safyaan Sharif all took two wickets apiece while only Jaweed Sadran reached double figures among Austria's batters.

The T20 World Cup will be staged in the United States and West Indies in June next year, when England will attempt to defend the title they won last November.

Scotland face Denmark on Thursday, with all of the action live on the BBC Sport website and iPlayer.

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