Cup hopes crushed (1 June 1999)

1 June 1999

Cup hopes crushed

The Barbados Nation

West Indies limped out of the cricket World Cup yesterday when Scotland could not perform the miracle they needed.

Caribbean hopes were shattered as New Zealand romped to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over the Scots at Edinburgh to secure a berth in the second round, the Super Six.

The team returns to London today from Manchester and will disband after attending a function at Buckingham Palace attended by all the teams tomorrow.

Faced with the task of overhauling Scotland's 121 in 21.2 overs, New Zealand raced to victory in 17.5 overs thanks to a well-calculated assault by the third-wicket pair of Craig McMillan and left-hander Roger Twose.

The victory meant that the West Indies, the other contender for a Super Six berth, were eliminated on an inferior run rate.

New Zealand qualified alongside group leaders Pakistan and Australia.

On Sunday, Australia batted ridiculously slowly to boost the West Indies' run rate despite winning by six wickets. Australia's strategy was to place West Indies in third place at the expense of New Zealand.

New Zealand had a net-run-rate of 0.00 compared with West Indies' +0.49 going into the match, but the quick win boosted it to +.58 to clinch the third spot.

West Indies effectively surrendered their chance of qualifying when they were dismissed for a meagre 110 runs by Australia.

Team manager Clive Lloyd once more bemoaned the lack of batting support for the bowlers that led to the West Indies' first-round elimination.

"You can't fault the bowlers, they have done extremely well, not only now but for years," Lloyd told the DAILY NATION.

He reiterated the point that Brian Lara "can't be expected to bat for the whole team".

"There are others who are being paid to do a job and they must do it efficiently," he said.

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)