'Unreal downfall' - Twitter reacts as West Indies fail to qualify for ODI World Cup 2023
Two-time champions West Indies will not feature in the 2023 ODI World Cup as they were knocked in the Qualifiers.
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.
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