West Indies 'don't deserve' to be in World Cup qualifiers - Amir Jangoo
West Indies batter Amir Jangoo believes they "don't deserve" to be heading to another ODI World Cup qualifier, but admitted the team's batting struggles - they have failed to see out 50 overs in the last three matches against New Zealand - had proved costly.
While West Indies were likely heading to the 2027 qualifiers prior to facing New Zealand, the three consecutive defeats which have decided the series - capped by the agonising one-wicket loss in Barbados on Sunday - have made it all-but certain they will have to earn the right to reach the ODI World Cup for the third consecutive time.
They managed to secure a spot at the 2019 World Cup but missed out on the 2023 event and now face the high-stakes prospect of another qualifying event early next year, then potentially featuring in the three-team Super Series at the start of the World Cup itself to have a chance of progressing further.
"The kind of quality that this team has, I think we don't deserve to be going to the qualifiers," Jangoo said. "It's just that's the position that we're in. But we know the quality that we have in our dressing room… all the bowlers, even young Vitel Lawes that we see making a breakthrough in this series here. So it's great signs to see. Going forward now, we have to play the right cricket and get those wins on the board for West Indies."
Jangoo returned to the side in Barbados having been left out of the third game in Guyana and top-scored for West Indies with 51 off 73 balls to lift them to 188. That nearly proved enough as Gudakesh Motie claimed 5 for 47 before Mitchell Santner carried the visitors over the line after a late chance had gone to ground for West indies. However, being bowled out in 44.1 overs followed innings of just 36 and 37.1 overs in the previous two matches.
"We haven't batted 50 overs in three games now," Jangoo said. "So I think that's on us, something that we have to look at internally in ourselves as batsmen and see how much we can better ourselves. And we have one more game to rectify that.
"[It's a] pretty difficult pill to swallow because we know how much was at stake here for this game. So it's all about understanding where we went wrong. We are aware of the talent on our team. I think going forward, we know what we have to work on, and for the qualifiers, we'll be ready."
For New Zealand, meanwhile, it has been an impressive turnaround after they lost the opening match in Guyana. They followed that with two hard-working chases on tricky pitches at Providence before having just enough to scramble over the line in Barbados.
The closing stages continued a memorable series for Jayden Lennox, who claimed nine wickets across the two wins in Guyana and then found himself coming to the crease with nine runs needed on Sunday. He survived ten balls in 26 minutes alongside Santner, playing out a maiden against Lawes with scores level.
Lennox stated, "There were nerves, but I think Santner, he's a pretty unflappable character, so for me to just kind of, I suppose, soak up a little bit of that calm energy was pretty nice." Despite the nerves, Santner was a pleasant character.
He also praised the role played by Mark Chapman, whose 80 off 82 balls, including four sixes, was the most dominant batting performance of the day.
"That kind of knock is all about momentum," Lennox said. "Losing a couple [of wickets] early is always hard, then when you get someone assess the conditions, soak up a little bit of pressure and then counterpunch, that puts a little bit of onus back on them to be more disciplined and figure out a way to take control which they kind of did to a degree towards the back end."
