Scotland have been handed a passport to Intercontinental Cup success after being awarded all 20 points from their controversial fixture against Zimbabwe.

The surprise decision, made by the tournament technical committee, means the Scots are guaranteed a place in the final against Afghanistan in Dubai. They could even go through as group winners, meaning they would need only to draw the final to win the trophy for the first time since 2004.

Roddy Smith, Cricket Scotland’s chief executive, said: “It is a satisfactory outcome to what has been a very difficult situation for ourselves, Zimbabwe and the ICC.

“We would rather have had the opportunity to play against Zimbabwe and we do not celebrate the fact they have forfeited the match. However, we have said all along we wanted our players to get the opportunity to compete for the cup and now they will get their chance. I am delighted for the squad.”

Smith denied Scotland’s success in reaching the final had been undermined by Zimbabwe’s forfeiture and insisted the relationship between the nations has not been damaged.

The match, originally due to take place in a neutral African country, was later changed to Harare at Zimbabwe’s request. Scotland initially agreed to the switch but were forced to perform a U-turn on UK Government advice.

Smith added: “If you take Zimbabwe’s results out of the equation we would have been in the top two in any case. We have never had any issue with Zimbabwe Cricket and we would have no hesitation in travelling there once the government’s stance has changed.”

Dave Richardson, chairman of the ICC’s event technical committee, said: “We did everything possible to broker an agreement between the two countries and would have been happy for the game to take place anywhere in the world. But the two sides could not agree and it is important for the integrity of the competition these circumstances are not allowed to happen again.”

Saltires coach Pete Steindl can now begin planning his team’s preparation following their reprieve. Scotland will have had almost three months without any cricket before the final which will be staged at the Dubai Sports City in early December.

Steindl said: “We are delighted to have the chance to extend our season by one game. The squad are in an active recovery phase, but we will get back into serious preparation mode in mid-October and hopefully we will get out to Dubai at least a week before the final.

Steindl confirmed English county players Kyle Coetzer of Durham and Kent’s Dewald Nel will be available for the match.

Afghanistan play their final group match against Kenya this weekend and, should they fail to take 14 points, the Scots will go through as winners of the seven-team qualifying group.