HARARE: Bas de Leede struck a superb 123 as Netherlands sealed qualification for the 50-over Cricket World Cup in India with a four-wicket victory over Scotland on Thursday in their final fixture at the preliminary tournament played in Zimbabwe. Netherlands needed to chase down their victory target of 278 in 44 overs to not only win the game but also leap-frog Scotland into second place in the table on net run rate. It was a feat they achieved in 42.5 overs to join Sri Lanka as the second qualifiers from the preliminary tournament. Netherlands will appear at a fifth World Cup and their first since 2011. This year’s global finals will be staged from Oct. 5-Nov. 19. Netherlands elected to field and restricted Scotland to 277 for nine in their 50 overs on a good batting wicket. In-form Brandon McMullen smashed 106 for the Scots, his second century of the qualifiers, while De Leede took 5-52. The Dutch were up with the rate for most of their innings, knowing they had only 44 overs to achieve their target, and a burst from De Leede sealed the win to cap a fine individual performance. It was his first One-Day International century as he finished with 123 from 92 balls, run out with his team two runs short of their target. Brief scores: Netherlands 278 for 6 (de Leede 123, Vikramjit 40, Zulfiqar 33*, Leask 2-42, Watt) beat Scotland 277 for 9 (McMullen 106, Berrington 64, Mackintosh 38*, de Leede 5-52, Klein 2-59) by four wickets.