Picture Supply: Wisden
West Indies, a as soon as dominant drive in cricket throughout all codecs, confronted a harsh actuality examine on Saturday on the Harare Sports activities Membership in Zimbabwe. Their hopes of qualifying for the 2023 World Cup in India have been shattered after a crushing seven-wicket defeat to Scotland within the Tremendous Six stage. This loss marked the end result of a sequence of setbacks for the two-time ODI World Cup champions, leaving them out of competition for the upcoming match in October. It was a stark reminder of how far they’ve fallen from their earlier glory days.
Regardless of dealing with an uphill battle, West Indies’ hopes have been additional dashed as they struggled to place up a good scorecard. The Scotland assault proved formidable, hanging early and decreasing West Indies to a dismal 65 runs for the lack of 4 wickets inside simply seven overs. Nicholas Pooran tried to regular the innings with a cautious 21 off 43 balls, however his dismissal proved pricey.
A glimmer of hope emerged when Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd initiated a late fightback, forging a gradual 77-run partnership. Holder contributed 45 runs off 79 deliveries, whereas Shepherd added 36 runs off 43. Nonetheless, the dismissal of the No.8 batsman triggered a fast collapse of the remaining batting lineup. In a blink of a watch, West Indies crumbled and will solely handle a meagre complete of 181 runs. It was yet one more disappointing batting efficiency that contributed to their downfall.
West Indies‘ probabilities of qualifying for the 2023 World Cup have been already hanging by a thread following their defeats in opposition to Zimbabwe and Netherlands. The latter match was an intense Tremendous Over contest, ensuing within the highest-scoring tied ODI. Their solely victories within the group stage got here in opposition to Nepal and the US, which secured their spot within the Tremendous Six stage of the Qualifiers match. Nonetheless, because of the guidelines, they couldn’t carry ahead the factors earned from these wins.
With Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe sustaining their unbeaten streaks within the Tremendous Six stage, West Indies’ solely hope rested on bouncing again to profitable methods and counting on exterior components to work of their favour. Sadly, they didn’t seize the chance inside their management, relinquishing their destiny to luck of their quest to qualify for the 2023 World Cup.
In A Nutshell
The 2023 Males’s ODI World Cup will mark the primary time that West Indies, two-time winners of the match, is not going to be collaborating. They have been the second group to be eradicated within the Tremendous Six stage, following Oman’s elimination. At the moment, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands are in a beneficial place to qualify for the World Cup in India, as each groups have amassed six factors from three matches. Scotland can be a contender, having secured 4 factors in three matches and at present standing in third place. The Netherlands holds the fourth place with two factors from three video games.
The dismal efficiency has sparked issues amongst Caribbean followers. The group’s struggles have been evident within the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia, the place they didn’t advance past the group stage, dealing with defeats in opposition to Scotland and Eire. This downward development has raised alarm bells within the area, as West Indies seeks to regain its former dominance in worldwide cricket.
