West Indies recently faced a couple of major setbacks in their last two fixtures of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 group stage. The defeats almost dented the Caribbean side’s chances of making it to the World Cup in India later this year, and now they stand on the verge of not featuring in the ICC event for the very first time in cricketing history,
It is worth mentioning that the first of those two losses for West Indies came against Zimbabwe. Notably, the Men in Marron fell 35 runs short of the set target and were stunned by the brilliant performance of the Zimbabwean side. Meanwhile, the second match witnessed one of the most iconic ODI games take place, where the Netherlands handed West Indies a 22-run defeat in a super over thriller. Despite the forgetful outing, Windies have sailed into the Super Six stage of the ICC CWC Qualifiers and are still tactically alive in the race to book a spot in the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Although West Indies managed to reserve a place in the Super Six, they will take zero points with them as they lost to Zimbabwe and Netherlands, which are the two other teams to qualify from their group. On the other hand, Zimbabwe will start with four points, having defeated both Men in Maroon and Netherlands. At the same time, the Dutch side will also carry two points courtesy of their victory over the West Indies.
Speaking of the other group, Sri Lanka and Scotland will possess four and two points, whereas Oman will start their super six campaign with no points.
Considering the scenario, West Indies have a very low chance of finishing in the top two of the Super Six stage because they need to win all their three fixtures against Sri Lanka, Scotland, and Oman. However, they will still have to hope that not more than one other side crosses six points.
Scenarios for West Indies’ qualification:
If Sri Lanka emerges victorious in all their Super Six matches, excluding the one against the West Indies, it would require the West Indies to support Scotland in defeating Zimbabwe. As a result, Zimbabwe (assuming they defeat Oman) and Scotland (provided they defeat the Netherlands) would both have six points. In this scenario, the West Indies must secure a higher net run rate than Zimbabwe and Scotland to qualify.
Likewise, if Zimbabwe manages to win all their Super Six games, the West Indies would have to rely on the Netherlands losing at least once. This outcome would create a situation where the West Indies, Netherlands, and Sri Lanka would potentially be tied on six points, requiring the net run rate to determine the rankings.
