Scotland crush West Indies’ World Cup hopes
Scotland 185 for 3 (Cross 74*, McMullen 69) beat West Indies 181 (Holder 45, McMullen 3-32, Watt 2-25) by seven wickets
Five years in the past in Harare, West Indies had been the beneficiaries of a controversial umpiring choice and a well timed rain interruption that secured their place within the 2019 ODI World Cup, at Scotland’s expense. There was no such luck for the two-time champions in 2023, as West Indies crashed out of the operating to qualify for the World Cup in India by struggling a seven-wicket loss to Scotland in Harare.
Thus the thirteenth version of the ODI World Cup would be the first with out the West Indies, who gained the primary two tournaments in 1975 and 1979, and likewise made the ultimate in 1983.
Scotland, in the meantime, are robust contenders for one among two World Cup spots up for grabs on the Qualifiers; they’ve 4 factors, whereas Super Six leaders Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe have six every. Allrounder Brandon McMullen was the star with each ball and bat, taking three wickets and scoring a half-century in Scotland’s maiden ODI win towards West Indies.
To pile on the stress, Scotland captain Richie Berrington requested them to bat in powerful situations, and their prime three fell to McMullen throughout the first six overs. Johnson Charles was out slashing a large ball to slide, Shamarh Brooks wafted one to cowl level, and Brandon King was double-bluffed by the quilt fielder being pushed again, and ended up spooning a full and straight ball again to the bowler.
Chris Sole went bouncer after which size to ship Kyle Mayers’ off stump cartwheeling. Shai Hope’s try to mood aggression with warning was ended by Safyaan Sharif, who dialled again the clock to their face-off in the 2018 Qualifier by opening up and nicking off Hope. McMullen bowled 9 overs on the trot and ended with match-winning figures of three for 32.
Chris Sole went bouncer after which size to ship Kyle Mayers’ off stump cartwheeling. Shai Hope’s try to mood aggression with warning was ended by Safyaan Sharif, who dialled again the clock to their face-off in the 2018 Qualifier by opening up and nicking off Hope. McMullen bowled 9 overs on the trot and ended with match-winning figures of three for 32.
Jason Holder and Nicholas Pooran focussed on stabilising a rocky begin, batting collectively for 50 balls and scoring solely 21 runs. But Mark Watt tempted Pooran with a flighted ball that was slog-swept, out of nowhere, into the palms of Christopher McBride on the cow-corner boundary.
Romario Shepherd joined Holder to placed on 77 runs for the seventh wicket, however when Shepherd tried to boost the tempo within the thirty seventh over, he was caught by a flying Sharif at level. Three balls later, Chris Greaves trapped Holder lbw and West Indies had been ultimately all out for 181 within the forty fourth over.
Scotland misplaced McBride within the first over of the chase however that wicket united McMullen with Matthew Cross and the pair rigorously negotiated the new-ball risk. In the twelfth over, Akeal Hosein lured McMullen right into a slog sweep however Mayers dropped the prospect at deep midwicket.
McMullen flat-batting a hard-length ball from Alzarri Joseph for a six down the bottom within the seventeenth over indicated that he was in command of the chase. Both batters predominantly labored the ball round, rotated strike and racked up fifties throughout their 125-run stand. When McMullen discovered long-on off Joseph, Scotland didn’t panic as Cross was there to proceed guiding the chase, first with George Munsey after which with Berrington, to finish victory within the forty fourth over.
For West Indies, this defeat continued their decline in white-ball cricket. The two-time T20 World Cup champions had crashed out within the group stage of that tournament final yr. It led to a significant white-ball shake-up with Pooran stepping down as captain and Daren Sammy being appointed as the white-ball coach. Sammy joined forces with the brand new Shai Hope for this World Cup Qualifier, however the marketing campaign has been disappointing, with defeats to Zimbabwe, Netherlands and now Scotland ending West Indies’ probabilities of qualifying for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India this October.