Jangoo insists 'quality' Windies ‘don't deserve’ to be in World Cup Qualifiers

New Zealand 189 for 9 (Chapman 80, Santner 34*, Motie 5-47) beat West Indies 188 all out (Jangoo 51, Motie 41, Fisher 3-40) by 1 wicket

West Indies’ narrow one-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the 4th One Day International at Kensington Oval on Sunday has made the Caribbean side's improbable task of avoiding the ICC Qualifying tournament even more difficult.

Windies gave a valiant attempt at defending 188, which made for a far more enthralling contest than the FIFA World Cup Final, which was being played in New York at the same time. 

A win would have given the West Indies important points to keep alive their hopes of a direct spot at the 2027 ICC ODI World Cup to be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. 

After Gudakesh Motie kept the hosts in the contest by completing his maiden five-wicket haul (5 for 47), Jayden Seales produced the wicket-taking delivery needed to secure the win when he had Black Caps captain Mitchell Santner slicing the ball in the air with three runs required for victory.

However, there was no communication from Ackeem Auguste coming in off the boundary and Justin Greaves running back from the inner circle, resulting in the clash of bodies, a spilt catch, and a series loss. 

The West Indies are 10th on the ICC ODI Team Rankings, 8 points behind ninth-placed Bangladesh. And it is the top nine that the Caribbean side needs to break into to secure automatic qualification. 

Amir Jangoo shared in an 81-run seventh-wicket partnership with Gudakesh Motie (41) to drag the hosts up from 81 for six. Jangoo, who scored 51, does not believe their position in the rankings accurately reflects the team.

“The kind of quality that this team has, I think we don't deserve to be going to the Qualifiers,” he said. “It's just that that's the position that we're in. But we know the quality that we have in our dressing room. All the bowlers, even young Vitel Lawes, that we see making a breakthrough in this series here. It's great signs to see. Going forward now, we have to play the right cricket and get those wins on the board for West Indies.” 

The 2027 Qualifier would be a third successive one for Windies, having emerged from the 2019 tournament to feature in the main showpiece in England while failing to secure a spot for the India-hosted competition in 2023.

The West Indies were bowled out inside 50 overs for a third successive time on Sunday. They have failed to score in excess of 200 on each occasion, mustering 138 and 140 in the 2nd and 3rd ODIs. 

Batting collapses are usually prominent features of low scores, and for the West Indies, it was a slip from 63 without loss to 138 all out in the second encounter, then from 121 for four to 140 all out in the third. Jangoo acknowledges Windies will need to improve, starting with the 5th ODI.

“We haven't batted 50 overs in three games now. So I think that's on us, something that we have to look at internally in ourselves as batsmen and see how much we can better ourselves. And we have one more game to rectify that.”