Two-time World Cup champions West Indies suffered back-to-back losses to Zimbabwe in the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifier tournament and then a sensational ‘Super Over’ defeat to the Netherlands this week. West Indies are unable to add a single point in the Super Six stage starting on Thursday.
Only the top two teams after the Super Six stage will qualify for the ODI World Cup 2023 to be held in India later this year. Teams will only carry forward points earned against teams in their group that have progressed to the Super Sixes. This means Zimbabwe lead by 4 points after their wins over West Indies and Netherlands, while the Dutch lead by 2 points after their ‘Super Over’ win over Windies.
West Indies need something special for the Cricket World Cup.
Everything You Need to Know After Day 10 #cwc23 Qualifier in Zimbabwe__https://t.co/YY2Pz73eDw– ICC (@ICC) 27 June 2023
West Indies need to win all their matches super six
The first thing West Indies need to do is win all their matches against Oman, Sri Lanka and Scotland in the Super Six stage. Even that may not be enough to qualify for the World Cup.
Shai Hope’s team will have to pray that some other results also go their way. They will have to hope that both Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe lose at least two of their three matches in the Super Sixes stage. If SL and Zimbabwe win two out of three matches, they will end up with 8 points and the best the Windies can achieve is 6 points with 3 wins.
West Indies need to improve their net run rate as well
Windies also need to improve their net run-rate (NRR) as the teams are tied on six points each. Sri Lanka are well ahead (2.698) on the back of their emphatic win against Oman when they chased down a target of 99 with 35 overs to spare.
If hosts Zimbabwe lose all their Super Six matches, Sri Lanka lose to the West Indies and win their other two matches, Oman wins two, and Scotland and the Netherlands win one each, then the West Indies come into the NRR equation. Can qualify even without. Then Sri Lanka will have eight points, West Indies six and others four each.
West Indies coach Darren Sammy said, “I am very positive and I understand the journey I have to travel with this team.” “Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom, come back. I understand the challenges ahead, and I also understand that things will not change overnight. It is a true reflection of where our cricket is at the moment and we have a lot of work to do.”