ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Why two-time Champions West Indies may miss out on World Cup

West Indies are at risk of not qualifying for the World Cup later this year. Yes, as strange and fake as it may sound, it is a fact!

The Caribbean flavour may well be missed in India as we prepare for a monumental event later this year. A ten-team World Cup has seen eight teams already book their places. The two remaining will be determined from the ongoing World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.

But in that tournament, West Indies have found themselves in hot waters after two defeats, a crucial one which came against the Netherlands on Monday.

What happened against the Netherlands?

West Indies scored 374 for 6 in their 50 overs. Nicholas Pooran played a blinder of 104 runs off just 65 balls, while Brandon King (76), Johnson Charles (54), and Keemo Paul (46) down the order made crucial contributions.

Despite registering a gigantic score, West Indies could only manage a tie from the match as the Dutch scored 374 for 9 in their quota of overs.

The match went to the super over and as the Netherlands bat first, we witnessed some unreal batting from Logan van Beek.

The Dutch batter went 4, 6, 4, 6, 6, 4 off Jason Holder's bowling and ended up scoring 30 runs in the over. Chasing 31 in an over, West Indies could only score 8 runs before losing 2 wickets with a ball to spare, thus losing the match in the super over.

Have West Indies qualified for Super Sixes?

Yes, despite the defeat, the Windies will be taking part in the Super Sixes, where they will face the three teams from the other group.

Why West Indies are at risk of not qualifying?

Well, out of the six teams, only two teams will qualify for the final, and thus qualify for the ODI World Cup later this year.

West Indies lost two matches in the group stage, and those were against Zimbabwe and Netherlands - the two teams who have qualified for the super sixes with them from their group.

The Super Sixes will have a combined team, where the group stage points against the qualified teams will be added to it as well. And with the two defeats, West Indies have found themselves down the pecking order.

That is why, even if they win their remaining three super sixes matches, it may not warrant a World Cup berth for Nicholas Pooran and company.