A Caribbean calamity - how West Indies botched their ODI World Cup chances

The 'worst fielding side' around
Ten catches went down in the group stage, the ground fielding was poor on the whole, and that's simply not good enough.

Not all of the West Indies' spills carried massive consequences. Even dropping Gajanand Singh when on 0 in the tournament opener, where he went on to score 101*, did not prevent them from securing a win. But some of them did. The five against Zimbabwe might have been the difference between 200 and 268, and cost West Indies points they could have carried over to the Super Six.

On that occasion, they put down Sikandar Raza on 1 and then on 3, and he went on to score 68 and share in a match-winning 87-run stand with Ryan Burl, who was also dropped once. Coach Daren Sammy was so frustrated that he labelled West Indies the "worst fielding side" at the qualifier.

And then they put down a crucial chance in the Super Six, too. Defending a below-par 181, West Indies took a wicket with their first ball and had an opportunity for a second in the 12th over - Brandon McMullen was on 21 when he drilled Akeal Hosein to Kyle Mayers at midwicket. But Mayers put it down and McMullen went on to score 69 and put Scotland on the doorstep of victory.

Illness, injury, and iffy playing XIs
With illnesses - most teams have had some form of winter flu affecting their camp - and injuries, it has been difficult for West Indies to always field a first-choice XI.

They batted Johnson Charles at No. 3 for the first time in his career in the opening three matches even though he is an opening batter. Their reason was that Shamarh Brooks' illness had opened up a spot. Would moving Shai Hope to one-drop have made more sense?

Yannick Cariah's injury meant West Indies couldn't capitalise on his pre-tournament form and also took away their only legspinner. The performances of Wanindu Hasaranga and Chris Greaves suggest it would have been handy for West Indies to have one.

The Super Over mess
After Logan van Beek had plundered 28 runs off 14 balls, mostly hitting to the short leg-side boundary at Takashinga Cricket Club, it was inexplicable that West Indies chose to bowl from the Pavilion End to him in the Super Over, where they gave him the same advantage.

That's the decision West Indies made and they tasked Jason Holder with delivering the six balls that would decide the match. He started with two full-tosses, then went short and wide, and could not adjust his lengths to test van Beek's defence against the yorker at all. The result was 4, 6, 4, 6, 6 and 4, and 31 runs for West Indies to chase. They stopped well short.

When asked afterwards who made the decision to bowl Holder in the Super Over, Sammy didn't comment, but a few breaths later, he said he had "full faith" in the captain's decisions.

Powell's power reaps no rewards
Rovman Powell, West Indies' vice-captain, played the opening two group matches, and showed none of the sense of responsibility that comes with his title and failed to provide the lower-order firepower West Indies desperately needed.

Coming in at 192 for 5 against USA, Powell picked out long-off with a nothing shot the ball after Nicholas Pooran was caught at sweeper cover to fall for a golden duck. West Indies lost six wickets for 105 in that match and did not make 300.

Against Nepal, with West Indies in a strong position at 310 for 5, Powell slugged a waist-high full-toss to long-on, and after being trapped lbw for 1 against Zimbabwe, something needed to be done about him.

West Indies acted.

They explained that leaving him out of the XI against Netherlands was an effort to balance the side, which was also without a hamstrung Mayers, and needed an extra bowling option. Romario Shepherd was included in Powell's place and Mayers returned for the Scotland match with Shepherd kept his place and Powell still confined to the bench.

Not the ideal preparation
West Indies played a series in the UAE to prepare for the qualifier, but not all of them were there together. Six of the 15 that travelled to Zimbabwe - Mayers, Holder, Powell, Alzarri Joseph, Shepherd and Akeal Hosein - were not involved in those matches.

Understandably, they were given a break after the end of the IPL, but it also meant that their first interaction with a new coach (though one they have known as a player for long) came at a crunch tournament and the lack of cohesion showed.

When asked to respond to Carl Hooper's comment that the situation facing West Indies was "distressing", Holder said he had been shutting out outside noise. Only to be reminded that Hooper was inside the camp, as the new assistant coach.

And then there was the choice of warm-up series. Day-night games in the desert did little to help West Indies ready themselves for the chilly, dew-dropped southern African mornings, where the ball moves substantially in the first hour and, when put in, their batters showed a lack of assurance. West Indies were 14 for 2 against USA, 55 for 3 against Nepal, and 81 for 6 against Scotland in the game that saw them cede any chances of going to the World Cup.