13th edition will be the first without the two-time champions

Jul 02, 2023 Sports

West Indies fail to qualify for 2023 ODI World Cup…

Kaieteur Sports – West Indies have failed to qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup after losing to Scotland in the Super Six stage of the ongoing World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe. Only the two finalists of that tournament make it to the World Cup in India later this year, and West Indies now can’t reach the final.

They were champions of the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979, and runners-up in 1983; the 13th edition of the competition will be the first without the team from the Caribbean.

West Indies had to play the World Cup Qualifiers because they finished ninth in the ODI Super League, and only the top eight teams gain direct entry to the ten-team tournament.

They were grouped with Zimbabwe, Netherlands, USA and Nepal in Group A of the Qualifiers, and the format of the tournament was such that the top three teams from each of the two groups made it to the Super Six stage. However, the teams that progressed would carry forward points earned from their results against the other teams that also qualified from their group.

West Indies began the Qualifiers with victories against USA and Nepal but then lost to Zimbabwe and Netherlands. So while they qualified for the Super Six, it meant they took zero points into that round, while Zimbabwe carried forward four points and Netherlands two. From Group B, Sri Lanka qualified for the Super Six with four points, Scotland with two, and Oman with none.

Dejected West Indies players leave the field. This setback is a continuation of their decline in the limited-overs format. (Getty Images)

Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka then won their first Super Six matches, taking their tally to six points each. It left West Indies needing to win all three of their games – against Scotland, Sri Lanka and Oman – to have a chance of catching up to Zimbabwe or Sri Lanka. But with the defeat to Scotland, the maximum West Indies can get to is four points – not enough for the top-two finish needed for a World Cup ticket to India.

This setback is a continuation of West Indies’ decline in the limited-overs format. They only just made it to the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, via the World Cup Qualifiers, where they sneaked into the final at the expense of, coincidentally, Scotland in a rain-hit game. They then did not qualify for the Super 12 stage of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, after winning just one (against Zimbabwe) and losing two (to Scotland and Ireland) of their group matches.

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