NEW DELHI, July 1: For the first time since the Cricket World Cup tournament started in ODI format 48 years ago, the two time world champion West Indies will not figure in the 2023 edition of World Cup to be held in India later this year.
West Indies on Saturday crashed out of the qualification round after a shock defeat from Scotland. Scotland defeated West Indies by seven wickets in a Super Six match after the champions of the two inaugural editions in 1975 and 1979 showed yet another dismal performance in batting getting all out for only 181 runs.
On Saturday, the West Indies once again produced a dismal show with the bat — 181 all-out in 43.5 overs — and Scotland showed no qualms in knocking off the target to win with seven wickets in hand and 6.3 overs to spare and pile up further ignominy on the two-time world champions.
Matt Cross (74 not out off 107 balls) and Brendon McMullen (69 off 106 balls) added 125 for the second wicket to seal the victory. Having lost a crucial encounter in Super Over eliminator to the Netherlands in a Group A match, which followed a loss to Zimbabwe, the West Indies entered the Super Six round with no points and a net run rate which was inferior to the other teams.
West Indies were always dependent on the outcome of other matches. West Indies did have four points having earlier beaten the USA (by 35 runs) and Nepal (101 runs), but the wheels came off rapidly owing to poor cricket across departments. But since they lost to both Zimbabwe and the Netherlands — who both qualified for the Super Six from Group A — the West Indies carried no points further.
(Manas Dasgupta)