Gordon Drummond's team will now play Afghanistan in Dubai

Scotland will contest the final of the Intercontinental Cup after the ICC awarded the team all 20 points, despite their refusal to play Zimbabwe.

The Scots will now travel to Dubai to play Afghanistan in early December.

Cricket Scotland chief executive Roddy Smith said: "Our concern was to make sure the team had a chance to compete on the field and not the boardroom.

"Luckily that has happened and the team now have a chance to go to Dubai to win it, which is great news."

And Smith added: "This is the end of a two-year campaign in the Intercontinental Continental Cup.

"The team have played five games: won three, drawn one and lost one, and played very well."

The ICC ruling approves Zimbabwe's decision to forfeit their home tie, which was Scotland's last group game.

The Scots had faced elimination after Cricket Scotland had decided to heed UK Government advice not to visit the troubled African country to play the match.

Zimbabwe later recommended that Scotland should be awarded full points for the cancelled fixture.

It is our recommendation that Scotland be awarded the full points for this fixture, a move that will allow for them to proceed to the final Zimbabwe Cricket Ozias Bvute

With a Zimbabwe XI sitting second in the standings, the gesture and its subsequent approval allows Scotland to leapfrog them and face section leaders Afghanistan.

Scotland's final game in the qualifying tournament had originally been scheduled for a neutral African venue, but three months ago it was decided that Zimbabwe would be permitted to host it.

However, the Foreign Office, backed by the Scottish Government, presently advises UK teams against travelling to Zimbabwe because of a lack of sufficient progress on political reform and re-establishing the rule of law.

A statement last week by Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Ozias Bvute clarified his team's position.

"If it meets with the approval of the ICC, it is our recommendation that Scotland be awarded the full points for this fixture, a move that will allow for them to proceed to the final," said Bvute.

"The Associate Members countries use this and other competitions to benchmark and track their progress, which progress is important to them.

"To this end we feel that the I-Cup is a significant competition in Scotland's development and therefore important that it gets the full benefits associated with playing in it.

"Moreover, given the limited playing opportunities available to them, it would be unnecessarily counterproductive to rob them of their right to participation or reduce their chances of reaching the final."

Scotland know the magnitude of their challenge in Dubai - they were defeated by 229 runs by the Afghan team in Ayr last month.

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