Trinidad Guardian article.
Port of Spain, Trinidad - The West Indies fate in the current World Cup is now uncertain as the team will have to wait for other results to see what needs to be done against the UAE in the last game to qualify for the quarterfinals.
West Indies went under to India in their fifth game of the tournament yesterday by four wickets at the WACA in Perth Australia. Batting first, the West Indies made only 182 all out and India, although being reduced to 134 for six, was able to get home thanks to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who made an unbeaten 46.
As it stands now, the West Indies have four points from five matches and will need to win their last game to end with six points and then look to make the quarterfinals on a better net run rate. The other two teams that are in the running with them are Pakistan and Ireland.
West Indies captain Jason Holder speaking on their loss yesterday said, “It was a case where we just did not make enough runs on a good surface for a top class batting unit like India. Our bowlers did well to pull it back but the runs we scored was always going to be too little to win the game.”
Looking ahead, the Barbadian who scored his second half century of the series said, “I am only in control of what I can control in terms of the other games. Those games are beyond my control and we just have to sit and wait to see what happens to those games, so we can come up with a plan for the UAE game. The UAE game is in my control, once we know what we have to do to get into the quarters, we will plan accordingly. At the moment there is nothing we can do but wait.
“What I can tell you is that the last game against the UAE is important and we are going to come hard at them and win that game. After the defeats we have suffered, we need a good win going into the knockout stage if we reach there.”
The West Indies have a long break before their next game against the UAE at Napier in New Zealand on March 15.
First Published In The Trinidad Guardian.