Wilting West Indies fail to qualify for Cricket World Cup for first time
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Raymon Reifer (above) and his West Indies teammates lost to Scotland in their Super Six clash on July 1.
PHOTO: AFP
HARARE – Two-time winners West Indies will miss the 50-over Cricket World Cup for the first time, after a comprehensive seven-wicket loss to Scotland in their Super Six clash at the qualification tournament in Zimbabwe on Saturday.
Scotland won the toss and elected to bat, restricting West Indies to 181 all out in 43.5 overs. Brandon McMullen was the pick of the bowlers with 3-32 in nine overs.
The Scots chased down their target with ease, reaching 185 for three in 43.3 overs, as McMullen struck 69 and opener Matthew Cross was unbeaten on 74.
With a first one-day international win over their opponents, they exacted revenge for an agonising loss to the West Indies at the previous World Cup qualifier in 2018, which saw them miss out on the main tournament.
West Indies, like Oman, have no points from their three games in the Super Six stage and cannot overhaul Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, who have six points each from their three fixtures.
Scotland’s win moves them to four points and they remain in contention with fixtures against Zimbabwe and Netherlands to come.
The West Indies had been criticised by their own coach Daren Sammy, who said they were the worst fielding team in the qualifiers and they were poor again on Saturday.
“We need to look at all areas. We have let ourselves down at this tournament. We have to go one way from here and that is up,” captain Shai Hope said at the post-match presentation. “We didn’t give that 100 per cent effort every single time. We did it only in patches.”
There have been mitigating circumstances. The team have battled with illness and injuries, but the fact that their only victories in five matches in Zimbabwe have come against Nepal and the United States is a very poor return.
Hope suggested the team’s build-up to the tournament was not optimal either, as they sent a second-string side to the United Arab Emirates. They played day/night internationals on the tour, while games have started at 9am local time on fresh African winter mornings in Zimbabwe, where the ball has moved around.
“The preparation needs to be better. We can’t expect to be an elite team without that backing from (the cricket board) at home,” Hope said.
The top two teams in the Super Six table qualify for the World Cup, which will be staged in India from Oct 5 to Nov 19.
West Indies won the first two tournaments, played in 1975 and 1979, and were losing finalists in the third. They have not reached the semi-finals since 1996. REUTERS, AFP
