The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Scotland celebrate the wicket of West Indies danger man Chris Gayle off the first ball of yesterday’s cricket World Cup qualifier in Harare.
The Scots were cruelly denied a place at the finals when rain ended the match with Kyle Coetzer’s team just six runs from victory.
Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer appeared to take a swipe at the International Cricket Council after his side missed out on World Cup qualification by the narrowest of margins.
The Saltires faced West Indies knowing a win would guarantee them a spot in next year’s World Cup, most likely at the expense of the two-time world champions.
However, with Scotland seemingly on course to chase down 198, rain forced an abrupt end to proceedings with Scotland 125 for five, still six runs shy of victory under DLS rules which meant Coetzer’s side miss out on next year’s tournament.
The game hinged on the decision to give Richie Berrington out LBW for 33 with the ball appearing to be heading down the legside, and with no reviews available it meant there will be no associate nation at next year’s tournament.
“It would have been nice to have a wicket in hand from that decision, but that’s the nature of the game and it has cost us, it’s cost us a lot of money as well,” Coetzer told the ICC.
The restructuring of the World Cup has been heavily criticised since it was announced that it would be cut from 14 teams to 10, meaning there was likely to be less opportunity for teams such as Scotland to test themselves on the world stage, and Coetzer suggested it had not been a popular decision among the associate nations.
He said: “I’m gutted for our guys and every friend, fan or associate nation that was behind us.
“There is a clear reason why everyone was behind us: because they wanted a point to be proved. We were within five runs.
“I’m absolutely gutted for our guys, but I’m so proud of every single one of them.
“We have guys in the top wickettakers and top run-scorers which just shows we are mixing with ‘full member nations’, as they’re called.
“Credit to Jason (Windies skipper Jason Holder) and his boys, they won the game fair and square in the end, but a competition like this ... DRS (Decision Review System)?
“You’re playing with people’s livelihoods and there’s a lot of money at stake and it proved costly today.”
He added: “We would have qualified for the World Cup last time around, now there are 10 teams and no associate teams, which is pretty disappointing.”
Things could not have started better for Scotland after Chris Gayle and Shai Hope were dismissed without scoring, but Evin Lewis and Marlon Samuels made sure they were not embarrassed before Brad Wheal and Safyaan Sharif took three wickets apiece to limit the Windies to just 198.
That total looked a long way off when the Saltires lost early wickets to be reduced to 25 for three, but Calum MacLeod, Berrington and then George Munsey appeared to be taking them towards the finish line before heavy rain cruelly intervened.
Coetzer remained satisfied with the performance of his players, however, saying: “We restricted a good side to 198 today.
“Playing the associate/full member card, if we weren’t good enough we wouldn’t be bowling a West Indies side out for 198.
“There’s only been one team we haven’t bowled out in this competition so that’s something to take home with us.
“The guys have been exceptional and we will hold our heads high but be disappointed.”