Player of the Match Brandon King scored his second ODI century as the West Indies defeated Oman by seven wickets with 62 balls to spare in the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
Chasing 222 for victory the West Indies reached their target in the 40th over. King scored an even 100 and Captain Shai Hope, an unbeaten 63 to secure their first win in the Super Six stage of the tournament.
With both teams already eliminated from contention from qualifying for the ICC World Cup in India later this year, the match was of academic interest.
However, the West Indies were looking to save face after losing to the Netherlands and Scotland in consecutive matches. After winning the toss, Hope asked Oman to take first strike.
The bulk of the scoring came from Suraj Kumar, whose unbeaten 53 and Shaoib Khan, an even 50, helped Oman to 221-9. Opener Kashyap Prajapati got 31 and Aayan Khan, 30, in the face of accurate bowling from Romario Shepherd who took 3-44 and Kyle Mayers 2-31 from seven overs.
GROS ISLET, St. Lucia- West Indies Women defeated Ireland Women by 2 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.
Batting first, Ireland were restricted to 112/7 in their 20 overs, thanks to economical and accurate bowling by Hayley Matthews 4-0-22-3, Cherry-Ann Fraser 3-0-22-2 and debutant Ashmini Munisar 4-0-16-1. Ireland captain Laura Delany top-scored with 34 followed by Eimear Richardson with 22.
In their run-chase, the West Indies lost wickets in consistent periods which slowed their scoring and forced it down to the last ball for a result. Skipper Hayley Matthews top-scored with 37 followed by Afy Fletcher with a valuable 19 when the game looked like it was slipping away from the home team. But Vice-Captain Shemaine Campbelle guided the team to a final ball single and take victory by 2 wickets.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – West Indies players Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph will depart early from the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe. The experienced duo will miss the last two Super Six matches as they return to the Caribbean.
This is with the view of managing the workloads of the two bowlers ahead of the upcoming Cycle Pure Agarbathi Test Series against India. West Indies have two matches remaining in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers against Oman on Wednesday and Sri Lanka on Friday.
Lead Selector, the Most Hon. Dr Desmond Haynes said: “Jason and Alzarri are two of our leading bowlers in all formats. We have a full schedule for the upcoming series against India, where we begin the new ICC World Test Championship, then followed by the CG United ODIs and the five T20Is. Therefore, we had dialogue, and it was felt the best move at this time is to have two of our leading bowlers return early from Zimbabwe.”
There’s no point in crying over spilt milk. The exercise now is to analyse and evaluate the reason for the cricketers of the West Indies’ poor performances and to rescue West Indians from further disgrace.
The administration, which includes the coaches and the captain, is as much at a loss as the fed-up fan who is quite angry at the bad cricket being played by a group of small islands that conquered the world with their rise to the top, playing scintillating cricket and becoming very popular wherever the game is played.
The question now remains, why was the milk spilt?
There are many explanations, factors and excuses but it boils down to one reason and one alone, and that is a lack of practice, driven by indiscipline from all concerned.
One could have noticed the wobbling of the virtues that make a team successful. Those in charge never detected the small cracks appearing in its body. They did not know enough cricket to understand.
Success is based on being better than one’s opponent.
Incumbent West Indies Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite said his side was eager to return to action after a four-month layoff.
Brathwaite and company will start the new ICC World Test Championship cycle with two Tests against India, beginning on July 12 in Dominica and July 20 in Trinidad.
He and many of the other Test team hopefuls are currently attending a training camp at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua to prepare for the series, which also features the 100th Test between the two sides.
“It’s important to start well,” Brathwaite said in an interview with CWI Media. “We are playing against India, so you know the guys are really looking forward to it.
