Scotland skipper Kyle Coetzer during the World Cup qualifier match against West Indies. (Cricket World Cup/Twitter)
In a do-or-die game against World Cup qualifying match against West Indies on Wednesday, Scotland exhibited control throughout the match. On the back of an attacking bowling performance, the associate nation bowled out the Caribbean side for 198. But chasing down the total, they fell short of 5 runs according to Duckworth Lewis method when rain hampered play. Skipper Kyle Coetzer, speaking to the media after the match, spoke about the wrong decision given by the umpire Paul Wilson, adjudging Richie Berrington LBW out on 33.
“Clearly that LBW decision is not sitting very well with us right now,” Coetzer said. “It’s not the first one in this tournament. In a competition like this, it comes down to a big game like that. Two critical moments in two critical games have potentially cost us. So we’re not feeling too flash right now.”
Scotland needed 94 to win in 111 balls and were on their way to clinch the victory to qualify for the World Cup next year. But the LBW decision took them to 125/5 in 35.2 overs when the rain stopped play. If the verdict was given in their favour, Scotland would have been three runs ahead on DLS method.
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“There’s a bit of emotion going around. The guys are absolutely gutted. They’re sat upstairs right now, and finding it pretty tough at the moment. It’s not the way we wanted to end the tournament but we look back and it’s five runs it’s just five runs. And it’s something pretty important that could have happened there.” Coetzer said.
The replays after the decision showed that the ball was clearly missing the stumps but since there is no DRS available in the competition, Scotland could not get the decision checked from upstairs. “We feel pretty rough right now,” Coetzer said.
In spite of the disappointing result, the 33-year praised his team’s performance, who remained unbeaten throughout the Super Six Stage, and only lost to Ireland on their way to face off against West Indies. “I couldn’t say any more for our guys. They have been absolutely outstanding. There’s obviously been a lot of pressure on them. There was extreme pressure today, with pretty much the whole world barring the West Indies wanting us to turn them over, for what we feel is for the good of the game. Try and make a scene and get us into that World Cup. But it wasn’t to be today,” he said.
He further expressed disappointment on the 10-team World Cup format. “We had the full backing of every Associate nation behind us today. Everyone was wanting us to turn over the West Indies. But it was not to be. It’s hard to comprehend that there’s only going to be a 10-team World Cup. After all the hard work we’ve done, it’s a rough one to take. It’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” he said.
With the win, West Indies qualified for the World Cup next year.