West Indies ‘let ourselves down’ in Qualifier: Hope

Khel Today Bureau 
New Delhi: Shai Hope admitted he was at a loss to explain West Indies’ performances at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier following a defeat by Scotland which ended their hopes of progressing to October’s main event.

Hope’s side were beaten by seven wickets in Harare and remain without a point in the Super Six following group stage defeats against Zimbabwe and Netherlands which were carried forward.

Hope.

The loss of early wickets again proved costly for West Indies, who slipped to 30 for four and 81 for six, and slow starts were one of several issues Hope identified in the wake of their latest loss.

“There is not one thing I can put my finger on,” he said. “We let ourselves down in the entire tournament.

“We have to look at the way we start our innings definitely. We knew conditions would be in the bowlers’ favour and every captain would have elected to field first.

“We needed to find ways to negate the early morning movement, but we can’t look at the past, we have to look forward and find ways to get better.”

Fielding has been another problem area for West Indies, who put down 10 catches in the group stage including five against Zimbabwe.

Those errors continued into the Super Six and Scotland’s Brandon McMullen became the latest batter to benefit in Harare, making a vital 69 having been put down on 21 to help steer his side home.

“Fielding is an attitude thing,” Hope said. “The effort needs to remain regardless of what’s happening and I don’t think we gave 100 per cent every single time.

“We did it in patches but we need to improve that. Our preparation needs to be better back home, we can’t come here and expect to be an elite team with that preparation.”

West Indies had never previously been beaten by Scotland in an ODI but knew they were facing dangerous opponents, having gone down against them at last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

They came through a nerve-wracking contest against the Scots in the 2018 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier but the tables were turned this time around as McMullen, who also took three wickets, and Matthew Cross (74 not out) made light work of chasing West Indies’ below-par 181.

Hope and new coach Daren Sammy have plenty of work ahead but the captain is focused on finishing on a high in Zimbabwe, with matches against Oman and Sri Lanka to come as West Indies look to restore pride.

“We have to make sure we give the West Indian fans something to cheer about in what’s left,” he said.

“I always believe the talent is there, no question, but we need to make sure we transfer that talent into consistent performances.

“They [Scotland] played very well, credit to them, they were disciplined, and we can learn from that.”