PERTH, Australia (CMC) – Captain Jason Holder has conceded that West Indies will be forced to sweat on favourable results in other preliminary games, if they are to have any chance of making it to the quarter-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup.
West Indies are in danger of missing out on the next round, lying fifth in Group B on four points. The top four advance to the final eight in the competition.
Holder said West Indies would go all out to win their final game against United Arab Emirates next Saturday and then hope for the best possible outcomes in the remaining fixtures.
“We’ve got to sit and wait first. There are a few more preliminary games to be played,” Holder said.
“We’ve got one more game [but] we’ve got some time off before that last game so we’ve got to wait and see how the table looks before our last game and then we can come up with a plan and a strategy on how we go forward.”
Reigning World champions India have already secured their passage to the next round, having played unbeaten to head the group on eight points.
South Africa, Pakistan and Ireland occupy the next three positions with six points.
However, Ireland are still to play South Africa and Pakistan and should they lose both games and West Indies beat UAE, they will end on six points along with the Caribbean side.
Net run rate would then decide the final quarter-final spot.
Looking ahead to the UAE contest in Napier, Holder remained pragmatic about West Indies chances of a spot in the next round.
“I can only control what I can control. Whatever happens in those last preliminary games is beyond my control,” the 23-year-old pointed out.
“What I can control is the game against UAE and I can assure you we will go in to win that game by all means. We just need to be aggressive and finish this preliminary round in a good manner.”
West Indies started their campaign with a shocking four-wicket defeat to Ireland but hit back with emphatic wins over Pakistan and Zimbabwe.
They slumped to bad defeats in their last two games, suffering a 257-run loss to South Africa and a four-wicket loss to India.