The West Indies got help from India yesterday as they make a bid to get into the quarterfinals of the 2015 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
With Group B going down to the wire in terms of determining who will move in to the quarters, the West Indies got a much need boost by India’s emphatic whipping of Ireland. West Indies, Pakistan and Ireland are fighting for two places in the quarters, with leaders India already through and South Africa nearly there.
The West Indies have four points from five matches and will need to defeat the United Arab Emirates in their final game to end on six. Currently Pakistan and Ireland both have six points. Pakistan will meet Ireland in their final match and whoever loses, they will battle the West Indies for the final spot on Net Run Rate (NRR), as the West Indies are expected to easily get over the UAE.
Currently, the West Indies have a better net run rate than Ireland, so if the Irish loses against Pakistan, then all the West Indies will need to do is to win against UAE, even if it is a close victory.
India’s big win yesterday pushed the Irish NRR even lower and they will know that nothing but a victory over Pakistan will take them through. If the game ends in a no-result, then the West Indies will have to pack their bags and head home. Ireland NNR has now dropped to -1-014, while the West Indies are at -0.511.
Meanwhile, the West Indies team have settled nicely in Napier and will resume training tomorrow for their final preliminary clash on Sunday. The pitch at Napier is good for batting and the boundaries are small, so the big hitting West Indian batsmen should enjoy themselves at the venue.
The team has been having a lot of off field sessions, speaking about their performances and they are keen to get in a good performance against the UAE, get into the quarters and look to peak from there onwards.
