Shai Hope opens up on West Indies’ embarrassing World Cup Qualifier exit

Shai Hope admitted he was at a loss to explain West Indies’ performances at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier following a defeat by Scotland which ended their hopes of progressing to October’s main event. Hope’s side were beaten by seven wickets in Harare and remains without a point in the Super Six following group-stage defeats against Zimbabwe and Netherlands which were carried forward.

The loss of early wickets again proved costly for West Indies, who slipped to 30 for four and 81 for six, and slow starts were one of several issues Hope identified in the wake of their latest loss.

“There is not one thing I can put my finger on,” he said. “We let ourselves down in the entire tournament.

“We have to look at the way we start our innings definitely. We knew conditions would be in the bowlers’ favour and every captain would have elected to field first. We needed to find ways to negate the early morning movement, but we can’t look at the past, we have to look forward and find ways to get better.”

Fielding has been another problem area for West Indies, who put down 10 catches in the group stage including five against Zimbabwe. Those errors continued into the Super Six and Scotland’s Brandon McMullen became the latest batter to benefit in Harare, making a vital 69 having been put down on 21 to help steer his side home.

“Fielding is an attitude thing,” Hope said. “The effort needs to remain regardless of what’s happening and I don’t think we gave 100 percent every single time. We did it in patches but we need to improve that. Our preparation needs to be better back home, we can’t come here and expect to be an elite team with that preparation.”