'Unreal downfall' - Twitter reacts as West Indies fail to qualify for ODI World Cup 2023

West Indies and Sri Lanka were two of the pre-tournament favourites coming into the ODI World Cup Qualifiers. However, the Shai Hope-led squad had a lackluster campaign, where they lost to hosts Zimbabwe by 35 runs and the Netherlands in a Super Over in the group stages.

The two-time ODI World Cup champions had an uphill task going into the Super Sixes as they had to win all their matches and expect some other results to go their way. However, their hopes were dashed on July 1 (Saturday) as they were comprehensively beaten by Scotland by seven wickets at the Harare Sports Club.

Scottish captain Richie Berrington won the toss and opted to bowl first. Young pacer Brandon McMullen did the heavy lifting with the new ball as he bagged the wickets of Johnson Charles, Shamarh Brooks and Brandon King inside the first six overs. West Indies slumped to 81/6 before a partnership of 77 runs between Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder temporarily saved the blushes for the batting side.

Scotland were set a target of just 182. They did not get off to an ideal start as they lost Christopher McBride off the first ball of the innings, however, the team did not panic and a 125-run partnership between McMullen and Matthew Cross took them to the brink of victory. Eventually, the winnings runs came off the bat of Cross as he pulled Shepherd for a boundary on the third ball of the 44th over as Berrington's men won the contest with 39 balls to spare.

West Indies, who have been world champions on four occasions, twice in ODIs and twice in T20Is, were knocked out of the 2023 ODI World Cup scheduled in India in October-November. This will be a tough pill to swallow for a team that once featured some of the greatest players in the history of the sport. The upcoming ODI World Cup will be the first time that West Indies will not be playing the event.

Scotland beat west indies by 7 Wickets 😮🔥
West indies are now out of the contention from qualifying to the world cup 😮

Associate Cricket is Rising 👏#SCOvWI #WIvSCO #CWC23Qualifiers #CWC23 #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/5HtPTe3ZEH

— Ashmin Aryal (@aryal_ashmin) July 1, 2023

A World Cup without West Indies 💔
Unreal downfall of the World Giants..who used to rule the cricket world.

END OF A GOLDEN ERA 🥺#CWC23Qualifiers #SCOvWI

— ANIK 📌 ~ (@Anik0507) July 1, 2023

Two times World Champion (1975 & 1979) West Indies are eliminated from playing men's Cricket World Cup 2023 🏆#WIvSCO #SCOvWI #CWCQualifer2023

— sudharshan sridharan (@sudharshansrid1) July 1, 2023

Scotland beat West Indies by 7 wickets to shatter WI World Cup Qualification hopes!

ICC CWC 23 will be played without 2 time CWC winners - West Indies!#CWC23#SCOvWI#CWCQ pic.twitter.com/8SoqYr2PMh

— Nilesh G (@oye_nilesh) July 1, 2023

The fall and fall of West Indies cricket. Never thought this was possible but cricket’s first global powerhouse may have hit it’s rock bottom! The 2023 Cricket World Cup will be without any Caribbean flavour! #SCOvWI #CWC23Qualifiers #CWC23

— Rishyan R G (@RishyanRG) July 1, 2023

Downfall of the Windies!

West Indies are out of the ICC CWC 2023 as they lost to Zimbabwe, Netherlands and Scotland in the qualifiers.

It's time for Windies Cricket to Re-Think. Re-Vamp. Re-Cycle.

No hiding here after...#SCOvWI #WIvSCO #CWC23Qualifiers #CricketTwitter

— Vishnukumar GD (@ItsGDTweets) July 1, 2023

New low for @windiescricket
Applause to @CricketScotland #CWC23Qualifiers #SCOvWI#ODIWorldCup2023

— Md Ahsan Khan (@AforAhsanIND) July 1, 2023

#WestIndies is out of #CWC23

What A Pity...! Those from the 70s, 80s & 90s generation might feel. Legacy which once unmatched comes to this.#CWC23Qualifiers #Scotland #SCOvWI

— Shams Masih (@BeingShamsMasih) July 1, 2023

Who would have thought of a World Cup without the 2 time champs. Things turn around faster #CWC23Qualifiers #CWC23 #SCOvWI

— Martin Vimal Kumar (@martinvml) July 1, 2023

Ohh no Westendies are out of cricket world cup 2023. #SCOvWI #WorldCup2023

— Amit Jha (@amit_a8) July 1, 2023

Feel very sad for westindies team💔#SCOvWI #ODIWorldCup2023

— Ess Jay 🖤💫 (@lone_speaks) July 1, 2023

And might see The Team which have entertain us for past several years will once again entertain like that, Till then It will hurt us a cricket Fan That WI will not Be the Part of World Cup and on that place were they won the WC last time. #WIvSCO #CWC23Qualifiers #WestIndies

— Devanshu Maheshwari (@beingdevanshu19) July 1, 2023

Unreal Downfall of WEST INDIES 🥺
WC 2023 will be without them 💔#CricketTwitter #RohitSharma𓃵 #ViratKohli #ViratKohli𓃵 #RohitSharma #WIvsIND #WIvIND #WorldCup2023 #CWC23Qualifiers #CWC23 #WestIndies pic.twitter.com/1nkztEecmX

— CRICKPICKS (@crickpicks) July 1, 2023

Two time World Champions and runner up in the 3rd edition West Indies out of this years World Cup!

A World Cup without Windies, something really strange to digest! #WestIndies #WIvsSCO

— Ulfath Uwais (@UlfathUwais) July 1, 2023

When you see someone you love destroy themselves. #WestIndies 💔

— que campbell (@quecampbell1) July 1, 2023

Hope they realise their mistake and make major changes in the west Indies cricket board...politics has pulled this team down!! #WestIndies #WorldCup2023

— sushegad_goan (@Kritin3006) July 1, 2023

This is what we call a downfall. BTW I feel very sad for them.#westindies

— Ubair Bhat (@UbairBh41888445) July 1, 2023