Romario Shepherd’s three-for and Brendon King’s century give West Indies their first victory against the Super Six in ODI World Cup qualifying

In a meaningless Men’s ODI World Cup Qualifiers match on Wednesday at the Harare Sports Club, Romario Shepherd got a three-fer and Brandon King hammered a century to give West Indies their first victory of the Super Six stage. The victory, by seven wickets, against Oman was West Indies’ first of the Super Six stage.

Oman reached 221/9 thanks to half-centuries from Shoaib Khan and Suraj Kumar, with Shepherd taking 3/44 from his 10 overs. With the help of skipper Shai Hope’s 63 and King’s calm knock of 100 off 104 balls, studded with 15 fours, West Indies managed to cross the finish line with 62 balls left.

Jatinder Singh and acting captain Aqib Ilyas were both bowled by Shepherd and Kyle Mayers inside the first ten overs of the West Indies’ innings after choosing to bowl first. When Kashyap Prajapati was run out by Roston Chase, Ayaan Khan and Kashyap Prajapati’s rebuilding for Oman came to an end.

Three of Oman’s hitters were run outs during their innings, including Shoaib Khan, who made a valiant 53 off 65 balls. However, Shoaib and wicketkeeper Suraj Kumar (50 off 54 balls) grabbed control of Oman’s revival until he was run-out by Akeal Hosein.

With an 85-run partnership, Shoaib and Suraj led Oman beyond 200 from 116/6, saving the team’s face. Following Shoaib’s dismissal, Kumar kept accumulating runs with the tail and reached his half-century off the penultimate pitch of the innings.

While spinners Hosein (0/48), Roston Chase (0/36), and Kevin Sinclair (1/42) kept things tight from their end, Mayers was frugal in his seven overs, taking 2/31, except from Shepherd.

West Indies’ pursuit got off to a rough start when Kaleemullah, who outpaced Johnson Charles for speed in the second over, castled him with a fantastic ball. Prior to being run out by Sandeep Goud, Keacy Carty seemed calm in his 49-ball 29.

However, by that point, he and King had added 80 runs for the second wicket. The Oman bowling assault, which lacked penetration, was therefore easily thwarted by King and Hope working together.

While Nicholas Pooran and calm Hope made sure there were no additional problems in the run-chase, King collapsed shortly after reaching his hundred. As West Indies went on to record their first victory in the Super Six stage, Hope remained undefeated with 63 and Pooran with 19, respectively.

In a nutshell, West Indies 222/3 in 39.4 overs (Brandon King 100, Shai Hope 63; Kaleemullah 1/49, Bilal Khan 1/54) defeated Oman 221/9 in 50 overs (Suraj Kumar 53, Shoaib Khan 50; Romario Shepherd 3/44, Kyle Mayers 2/31) by seven wickets.