Scotland, chasing an unlikely 212 to win after South Africa made 211 for five, slumped to 81 all out.

Theirs was the seventh lowest in all Twenty20 internationals and the second worst at the Twenty20 World Cup following Kenya’s 73 against New Zealand in Durban two years ago.

Scotland collapsed to 13 for four inside three overs and only Kyle Coetzer’s gutsy 42 off 32 balls, featuring three sixes, prevented an even greater margin of defeat.

This crushing reverse ended minnows Scotland’s slim hopes of qualifying for the second phase Super Eights after their seven-wicket loss to New Zealand, the other team in Group D, in a rain-affected match at the Oval on Saturday.

De Villiers faced just 34 balls, striking six sixes and six fours.

South Africa quick Dale Steyn bowled Ryan Watson off the fifth ball of the reply and, after Scotland captain Gavin Hamilton fell to Wayne Parnell, two wickets were lost with the score on 13.

Navdeep Poonia was run out needlessly for nough before Colin Smith was bowled first ball by a 91mph Steyn yorker.

Coetzer did give Scotland fans something to cheer by pulling Steyn for six but the match had been over as a contest long before then.

Scotland briefly staunched the flow of wickets before Neil McCallum was bowled by off-spinner Johan Botha to leave his side 35 for five.

South Africa saw captain Graeme Smith (38) and Jacques Kallis (48) put on 87 for the first wicket before off-spinner Majid Haq (two for 25) removed both openers in the space of four balls.

Kallis dragged an intended sweep against Haq onto his stumps having faced 31 balls with eight fours.

And three balls later Smith got a top-edge off Haq which was caught by Scotland wicket-keeper Smith.

Scotland put a brake on the run-rate and when Herschelle Gibbs was stumped by Smith off Watson, South Africa were 125 for three in the 15th over.

But the Proteas scored 83 runs off the last five overs although the last over did see Coetzer take a brilliant catch, diving backwards, to get rid of Mark Boucher.

South Africa conclude their Group D programme against New Zealand at Lord’s on Monday.

In a match reduced by rain to just seven overs per side, Scotland made an impressive 89 for four thanks to rapid innings from Kyle Coetzer (33) and Ryan Watson and Navdeep Poonia, who both made 27.

But in the end their bowling could not quite match their batting with the Kiwis getting home with an over to spare.

That meant they avoided the embarrassment suffered by hosts England, beaten by the Netherlands in Friday’s tournament opener at Lord’s, of losing to a minor cricket nation.

Brendon McCullum, captaining in place of the injured Daniel Vettori, began the pursuit of the 90 New Zealand needed by striking four fours from Calum McLeod as 19 runs in all came off the first over.

Jesse Ryder continued the assault by launching Craig Wright for two huge sixes. But after a run of four successive boundaries, the left-hander holed out to McLeod off Wright.

Then 51 for one became 59 for two when McCullum was run out for 18 after a huge mix-up with Taylor.

Jacob Oram was given a reprieve when Gordon Drummond dropped a miscued effort and knocked the ball on four. But next delivery the giant all-rounder holed out off Watsom whose lone over cost just four runs.

That left New Zealand 68 for three.

Each ‘dot ball’ was cheered to the echo by a crowd keen to witness an upset.

New Zealand got the target down to 22 off 12 balls but then scored the runs they needed in just one over from medium-pacer Stander, who had two sixes scored off him by Taylor and one by Scott Styris.

Scotland made a blistering start with the bat.

They plundered 18 runs off the first over with Zimbabwe born and South Africa raised Watson striking four fours off Iain O’Brien.

He began first ball with a top-edged hook and, after two leg-byes, followed up with a couple of pulls before a straight drive also went to the boundary.

But he eventually holed out off Ian Butler’s first ball to Taylor in the covers.

New batsman Kyle Coetzer kept the tempo high with a superb off-driven six against medium-pacer Ryder and next ball followed that up with a four.

At the end of the fifth over Scotland were 67 for one.

Poonia then leg-glanced Oram for four and next ball hoisted him for an enormous six over mid-wicket.

But Scotland lost three wickets off successive balls in the last over of their innings from seamer Ian Butler, who finished with three wickets for 19 runs from his two overs.

Scotland vs South Africa Live Scorecard

Scotland’s opening game against New Zealand on Saturday was reduced to 7 overs a-side. The Scots were asked to bat first and they smashed 89 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. That certainly exceeded expectations and it proved to be a nail-biter but inexperience at this level eventually told and the Black Caps got home with 6 balls and 7 wickets to spare.

As for the Proteas, they have once again had a wonderful preparation with Pakistan and Sri Lanka seen off comfortably in the warm ups. The squad is well balanced in every discipline, it ticks all the right boxes and expectations are high.

For years now in One-day cricket New Zealand have punched above their weight and their quality was on show this week when they beat defending World Twenty20 champions India by nine runs in a warm-up match at Lord’s.

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India’s subsequent nine-wicket thrashing of Pakistan in another warm-up at the Oval meant the impact of the New Zealand loss was not felt for too long back home in the sub-continent.

But it was a reminder of the heights the Black Caps can reach.

In wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum they have one of the most dynamic batsmen in world cricket and a worthy successor to the likes of Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle.

Jesse Ryder is also a batsman that can make bowlers look stupid and while the absence of Shane Bond robs them of a genuine quick, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori remains arguably world cricket’s pre-eminent left-arm spinner in all forms of the game.

He took three for 24 in the recent victory over India and Vettori relishes a Twenty20 format which, on paper at least, looks to be tilted heavily in favour of batsmen.

“In Twenty20, you are not going to second-guess yourself,” said Vettori.

“The batsman is going to attack you, most spin bowlers realise that, and if they attack too much you create chances and you find even part-time spinners in the Indian Premier League being highly successful.”

New Zealand though are vulnerable to top order collapse – as happened in their warm-up loss to Australia – but on the flip side they do bat a long way down with reserve keeper Peter McGlashan making an impressive 49 as a No 7 against Ricky Ponting’s men.

Of all the three Associate or junior nations taking part in this tournament (Ireland and the Netherlands are the other two), Scotland look least equipped to cause an upset.

It is now a decade since their captain Gavin Hamilton won his one and only Test cap for England while the squad suffered disruption during the warm-up series when former county bowler John Blain quit after a row with his skipper.

Having failed to qualify for the 2011 World Cup in Asia, a major blow to their morale, Scotland will be desperate to show in some way that they are deserving of a place on the big stage.

But a seven-wicket loss to the Netherlands in a warm-up confirmed the extent of the challenge facing Hamilton’s men who, a day earlier, had threatened to embarrass England before Kevin Pietersen took that match away from them.

“We wanted to play decent cricket but we were miles off the mark,” said Hamilton of the Dutch defeat.

“There’s no excuse whatsoever for what was a lackluster performance. The disappointing thing was that we made the same mistakes – there were far too many dot balls.”

New Zealand vs Scotland Live Scorecard

For years now in One-day cricket New Zealand have punched above their weight and their quality was on show this week when they beat defending World Twenty20 champions India by nine runs in a warm-up match at Lord’s.

India’s subsequent nine-wicket thrashing of Pakistan in another warm-up at the Oval meant the impact of the New Zealand loss was not felt for too long back home in the sub-continent.

But it was a reminder of the heights the Black Caps can reach.

In wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum they have one of the most dynamic batsmen in world cricket and a worthy successor to the likes of Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle.

Jesse Ryder is also a batsman that can make bowlers look stupid and while the absence of Shane Bond robs them of a genuine quick, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori remains arguably world cricket’s pre-eminent left-arm spinner in all forms of the game.

He took three for 24 in the recent victory over India and Vettori relishes a Twenty20 format which, on paper at least, looks to be tilted heavily in favour of batsmen.

“In Twenty20, you are not going to second-guess yourself,” said Vettori.

“The batsman is going to attack you, most spin bowlers realise that, and if they attack too much you create chances and you find even part-time spinners in the Indian Premier League being highly successful.”

New Zealand though are vulnerable to top order collapse – as happened in their warm-up loss to Australia – but on the flip side they do bat a long way down with reserve keeper Peter McGlashan making an impressive 49 as a No 7 against Ricky Ponting’s men.

Of all the three Associate or junior nations taking part in this tournament (Ireland and the Netherlands are the other two), Scotland look least equipped to cause an upset.

It is now a decade since their captain Gavin Hamilton won his one and only Test cap for England while the squad suffered disruption during the warm-up series when former county bowler John Blain quit after a row with his skipper.

Having failed to qualify for the 2011 World Cup in Asia, a major blow to their morale, Scotland will be desperate to show in some way that they are deserving of a place on the big stage.

But a seven-wicket loss to the Netherlands in a warm-up confirmed the extent of the challenge facing Hamilton’s men who, a day earlier, had threatened to embarrass England before Kevin Pietersen took that match away from them.

“We wanted to play decent cricket but we were miles off the mark,” said Hamilton of the Dutch defeat.

“There’s no excuse whatsoever for what was a lacklustre performance. The disappointing thing was that we made the same mistakes – there were far too many dot balls.”

Ireland reached the Super 8 stage at the 2007 World Cup after tying with Zimbabwe and beating Pakistan to knock its opponent out of the competition. In 2003, Kenya reached the semifinals after defeating Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe on its way to the last four.

Of the three teams, Ireland has the best chance of reaching the Super 8 stage, thanks to a kind draw. Few expect the Irish to beat India, but Bangladesh can be beaten, according to Ireland batsman Kevin O’Brien.

“(Bangladesh’s) best chance to win a game in the group and get through to the Super 8s, and it’s our best chance as well,” O’Brien said. “We’ll go out there and do what we did, and hopefully we can get a few more games out of it. Bangladesh and India are in our group and they bring such great crowds and such a noise, we have to just live for those two games because you might never play in front of 28,000 again.”

The perennial problem for all associate nations is being unable to field their best players. With no opportunities to play professional cricket domestically, Ireland’s best players, like Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan, gravitate toward the English county circuit, and Morgan has opted to play for England this time round.

Yet the associate nations also benefit from a trickle of players discarded by the Test-playing nations.

Scotland are captained by former England international Gavin Hamilton, while the Netherlands’ squad includes Victoria fast bowler Dirk Nannes, who was overlooked by Australia despite being regularly preferred to Glenn McGrath by the Delhi Daredevils during the recent Indian Premier League.

Nannes, who has also played for English county side Middlesex, has 53 wickets in Twenty20 cricket at 17.58, while the Netherlands can also call on Essex’s Ryan ten Doeschate, who averages 42 in Twenty20.

It will take a major upset for either the Netherlands or Scotland to progress. The Dutch, who open the tournament when they play England at Lord’s on Friday, will have to beat either the hosts or Pakistan to reach the Super 8s.

Scotland has a similarly daunting task to get out of Group D, where it meets New Zealand and South Africa.

“This event will be a huge Test for us all, playing some fantastic sides on the biggest stage cricket can offer,” Hamilton said. “We have made some positive steps forward in the last couple of weeks and the full squad is looking forward enormously to Testing ourselves against the world’s best.”

In April, the team returned from South Africa with its One-day status intact but without a place at the 2011 World Cup that many had expected them to secure.

Roddy Smith, chief executive of Cricket Scotland, was frank in his assesment of the team’s performance, telling the Scotsman newspaper: “There are no excuses. Quite simply, the team’s performances have not been good enough.”

Scotland, like many nations outside the Test elite, have a constant struggle to retain players.

While the ICC makes laudable efforts to give them more games, team members must decide whether they can afford to take time off from their day jobs, with only three Scotland players on full-time contracts.

But there were encouraging signs during a May 28 Twenty20 warm-up match against Bangladesh where Scotland, although losing by six wickets, did bat through their 20 overs.

Much will depend for Scotland on the form of captain Gavin Hamilton, who played for England on their 1999 tour of South Africa, and Zimbabwe-born batsman Ryan Watson.

He stood down as skipper after failing to guide the team to a top-four finish in South Africa, which meant they missed out on the 2011 World Cup in Asia.

“We are in a rebuilding phase and … I know we have to give a number of players international experience over the next couple of years,” Hamilton told a website.

“However, we have a fantastic and important summer of cricket ahead and it is vital we put in some good performances in the next few weeks.”

Long one of the most consistent nations outside the Test elite, a run of poor results during the recent 2011 qualifying tournament in South Africa saw Scotland fail to make it to the showpiece event in Asia.

Ryan Watson was stripped of the captaincy and in his place came all-rounder Hamilton, whose one and only Test appearance a decade ago for England saw him fail to take a wicket and record a pair against South Africa in Johannesburg.

Now 34, Hamilton’s career in England was to suffer dramatically when a move from Yorkshire to Durham saw him get what golfers would term the ‘yips’ with his seam bowling.

But he has been able to continue his Scotland career and now Hamilton hopes a new-look side can give a good account of themselves in a Group D also featuring South Africa and New Zealand.

“We’re realistic about our chances of winning games, but if there’s ever a game to win, it’s Twenty20 because the whole thing can turn around in two or three overs,” he said.

“It’s a case of having people playing well and hopefully catching teams on a semi-bad day.”

Scotland face England in a warm-up match on Tuesday at Trent Bridge but Hamilton said his 1999 experience would not be something he would dwell on.

“That was a long time ago,” he said. “I had my ups and downs thinking about that in the couple of years after it. But not now.

“It was an experience I’d like to change but I came away from that tour a better cricketer.”

This followed on from a five-wicket defeat by Ireland in the group stages, although Scotland coasted to an easy eight-wicket win over Bermuda.

Scotland, who will rely on the experience of the likes of Gavin Hamilton and John Blain, will face a challenge if it wishes to qualify for the latter stages of the ICC World Twenty20 2009 as it will play group matches against New Zealand and South Africa.

It played in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 event and lost to Pakistan by 51 runs, despite 46 from Fraser Watts.

The game against India was abandoned due to rain.

Scotland’s 15-men squad for ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England:

Gavin Hamilton (captain), Richie Berrington, John Blain, Kyle Coetzer, Gordon Drummond, Majid Haq, Neil McCallum, Navdeep Poonia, Dewald Nel, Glenn Rogers, Colin Smith, Jan Stander, Fraser Watts, Ryan Watson, Craig Wright.