Relief for West Indies, heartbreak for Scotland
The two-time champions sealed a berth in the 2019 World Cup when rain arrived with Scotland five runs short of the DLS par score
The two-time champions sealed a berth in the 2019 World Cup when rain arrived with Scotland five runs short of the DLS par score
Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: Sreshth Shah
5.12pm That's all from Harare. Two-time champions West Indies will feature in next year's World Cup for certain. Scotland have another four-year cycle to work with to make it to the 2023 World Cup. Credit to WI for keeping the pressure through Scotland's chase after being bowled out for 198. The Scots will look at all the missed chances, especially the extras they conceded in the first innings. But, all of that, will be wishful thinking.
Here's Liam Brickhill's report for today's match and join us tomorrow for the match between Zimbabwe and UAE. Remember, one more spot still up for grabs over the next two days. Hope you enjoyed ESPNcricinfo's coverage of this encounter, this is Sreshth Shah, signing off. Bye!
Felix Wilson: "@Arjun that sentiment infuriates me. Why even have qualifiers at all if you just send the 10 (historically) best teams through. Why even have a tournament? Just give the title to Australia every 4 years. These are the moments associate teams play for, and these are the moments that can kick start a generation of new fans to the sport."
5.08pm The two captains now. First up, Kyle Coetzer: "I'm extremely proud of the guys, and we've shown we're capable of competing. A couple of decisions have hurt us, and there was one today that didn't go our way. Our spin bowling has been exception, it's been up there with the best. The WI seam attack was good, so credit to them and credit to Jason and his team. Our boys, however, have been exceptional."
Jason Holder: "Extremely pleased. The guys put up their hands in every game, and every single game was pressure for us. Scotland have played some very good cricket, I can imagine how they're feeling. I can understand how they're feeling. My mind hasn't gone to the World Cup just yet. We want to win this tournament, but must thank the fans in the Caribbean. Our true fans stuck in with us. We're thinking about the final."
Allan: "To be fair Arjun most of us would like to see both teams in, but as the ICC won't allow for that this is where we end up. Whatever said and done it is really sad to see months of hard work by a team that has got very limited chances, go down the drain due to an 2 uncontrollables." -- Allan, if I may add, not months, but years.
5.00pm Time for the presentation. Scotland's Safyan Shareef is the Man of the Match. He says, clearly emotional: "As a bowling group, we were outstanding. The boys showed their consistency through the tournament. I did decently for the last qualifier too, so there has been a certain improvement. The team is disappointed with how the game ended. We'll just take the positives."
Rahim C: "It may have been a close finish but talented, young West Indians like Hope, Hetmyer and Paul have earned West Indies a place in the World Cup. If CWI resolve their differences with omitted superstars like Bravo, Pollard, Narine and Russell then it would be a very difficult call to drop the young players that successfully lead the country through the qualifying campaign. "
Arjun Budhathok: "Folks what would the World Cup be without the fanciest team on earth? I respect your feelings but The Better team won, at the end of the day. Cheer up folks."
4.40pm West Indies sneak through to the 2019 World Cup! It's official now, play has been called off. Scotland are knocked out, heartbreak for them. West Indies win by five runs.
Allan: "Absolutely gutted for Scotland. This will have a serious impact on the next 4 years for them. Played magnificent cricket and those 2 umpiring decisions will haunt some of those players forever.Why can't the ICC see that these teams are of good enough quality to have a run on the big stage?"
Martin Jones: "You've got to feel for Scotland: but for a shocker against Ireland (Balbirnie's non-LBW) it seems likely they would have won that game. But for a shocker here, Berrington could have possibly kept them ahead of DLS. And as for the ICC's explanation of keeping things consistent, that doesn't extend to making Netherlands' and Nepal's fixtures ODIs."
Mani: "Perhaps, it is fair WI and Zim get to play in the world cup, but some other teams (Scot, Ire, Afg) have had their moments too. ICC should invite them and a perhaps a fourth team (with best players selected from other teams, such as Nepal, UAE, NL, PNG, HK) and get them to play the world cup playing teams for the practice matches before the world cup. Win- win for all in my opinion."
4.30pm Nothing new to add. Still raining in Harare.
Tom McKechnie: "People saying that the (terrible) umpiring decision cost Scotland the match : Leask has scored at a higher rate than Berrington was (14 off 10) so if Berrington was still in, they most likely would be below the DLS score."
For those of you wondering why there's no DRS in play at Harare, here's the reasoning from our explainer: "As a number of games are not being televised, and for conditions to be consistent for all matches, the ICC has decided not to use DRS for any of the games. Also, it's worth bearing in mind this isn't a profit-making event for the ICC so anything to keep costs down is the way forward."
Nerk: "The windies bless the rains down in Africa."
philinZim: "its 4:23 local time, and it will be dark by 6:30, and locally we don't have storms that lasts more than 30 minutes. My bet is that by 5:00pm , the rains would have stopped. I am 2 minutes aways from the cricket grounds, and the rains are pounding, getting heavier by the minute, tough luck scotland, this is as freaking storm as they come, no one could have predicted this"
4.20pm Liam Brickhill, our correspondent at the ground, says: "The rain is getting much heavier now, and where we had patches of blue we now have only grey. There are also big puddles forming on the covers." He adds: Local knowledge suggests that if the rain comes from the Golf Course End, it could be the sort that sets in. That's the side that this storm came from."
Jess: "@karl, the ball wouldnt have gone on to hit a second set of stumps. Absolute shocker which has ultimately decided the outcome of the game. No excuses for decisions like that."
Karl Rocks: "In Fairness to the ump it's a mistake, a bad one but human error none the less, we've seen them before we'll see them again, the issue is the lack of DRS how can there be no DRS in a comp of this importance?"
4.10pm More covers coming on now as the rain gets heavier. The sun can be seen in the background though, so still hopeful of a full game.
Kp: "How much would the DLS par score have been, had Berrington not been given out? -- Believe it or not, Scotland would've been ahead by three runs.
4.06pm Scotland are currently five runs behind the DLS par score of 130. This is as per 35.2 overs. The groundstaff have quickly covered the pitch. Doesn't look like a shower that will hang around for too long. Expect play to start soon.
Al.hadi: "I am from Pakistan also from lahore here is psl match today karachi vs Peshawar...but trust me my interest with this game....many reasons 1. international cricket. 2.w.i cricket team is part off cricket family. 3. Scotland very impressed me 4. Who will play 2019 world cup many many more.....ohhhh my god"
Ishan Jain: "Very interestingly, exactly 20 years ago on March 21, 1998, Paul Wilson's one match Test career ended."
Scotland are now seven runs behind the DLS par score of 130. The rain's getting slightly heavier as the focus shifts towards the groundstaff
Sammy HJ: "@Sreshth I'm backing the little guy, come on Scotland. Mostly because I would be interested to see the ICCs response if there ends up being a world cup without the Windies. Lets be honest - a cricket tournament with only 10 teams doesn't really count as a world cup... The ICC should focus on growing the game - not just cashing in"
An iffy lbw decision followed by rain left Scotland so near, yet so far away from achieving their World Cup dream. For an Associate side that beat Afghanistan, tied with Zimbabwe and went toe-to-toe with West Indies, it was a cruel end to their qualifying
While Scotland's captain rued his team's bad luck with lbw decisions, West Indies' Jason Holder pointed out that the availability, or otherwise, of the DRS was not under his control
The two-time champions sealed a berth in the 2019 World Cup when rain arrived with Scotland five runs short of the DLS par score