King century, Shepherd three-for hand West Indies first Super Six win

West Indies defeated Oman in Harare by a score of seven wickets thanks to a disciplined bowling effort and a century from Brandon King. Before the spinners slowed Oman down and prevented them from moving past third gear, Key Mayers and Romania Shepherd were the bowlers of choice. With more than ten overs to spare, the West Indies won their first game in the Super Six phases of the World Cup Qualifier while chasing a below-par 222. King and Shai Hope, who added another half-century, were instrumental in the victory.

This game lacked the fervor of many others because both sides had already been eliminated, and it was obvious to the mostly empty Harare crowd. Shepherd and Mayers perforated Oman early, and Jatinder Singh and captain Aqib Ilyas fell easily. But a run of self-destruction continued through a three run-out Oman inning. That strategy saw Kashyap Prajapati be the first victim as Roston Chase pounced on errant behaviors.

The middle overs were then handled by Akeal Hosein, Roston Chase, and Kevin Sinclair, who completed them rapidly without any input from Oman as the run rate dwindled. The barrage of dot balls throughout the middle overs suggests that sporadic aggressive outbursts weren't effectively followed by effective rotation of strike. Oman was in danger of losing early as three quick wickets fell through the middle overs, but tenacious resistance from Shoib Khan and Suraj Kumar saved them.

They crossed the 200-run mark thanks to an 85-run stand, but the dreaded run-out soon followed. Suraj wasn't interested when Shoaib requested a single from the non-striker's end, but West Indies was more than glad to send Shoaib on his way. After that, the innings ended quickly as Oman slumped to 221 runs.

Early on, Oman was dealt a blow when two of Johnson Charles' stumps were uprooted by a beautiful indinger from Kaleemullah, but West Indies proceeded with comfortably for the remainder of the first powerplay. When Keacy Carty was exhausted, King had already found his rhythm and was finding runs to be much easier to come by. Oman had little defences as they slid right through the target as he teamed up with the team's greatest hitter, Hope.

The West Indies have little to celebrate in this tournament, but King was still able to reach his second hundred as the finish line got closer. Though Bilal Khan had him nick off two balls later, he would not be able to complete the task because Hope had already reached his half-century and West Indies were advancing quickly towards the finish line. The victory for West Indies came from Nicholas Pooran's flawless 19-ball 24, but it won't matter much because the team did what needed to be done.