Hooper not giving up hope as yet

KIMBERLEY: When the Cricket World Cup draw was first released, it wasn’t hard to imagine the final Group “B” match between West Indies and Kenya would count for little.

Most predicted one team would have qualified for the Super Sixes and the other would be making up the numbers. The forecasts were right, but few expected Kenya would be the first side from the group to advance and West Indies, world champions in 1975 and 1979, would be left playing for pride tomorrow. West Indies have a slim mathematical chance of making it, but need South Africa and New Zealand to lose their final matches, and captain Carl Hooper has accepted his team’s fate. “Cricket’s a funny game, anything can happen, but realistically we know we’re out,” Hooper said.

Kenya secured their place in the second round with victory over Bangladesh on Saturday after previous wins over Canada and Sri Lanka, the biggest upset of the tournament. Significantly, they also defeated New Zealand by forfeit after the Kiwis refused to travel to Nairobi because of security fears. West Indies began the World Cup in great form, beating hosts South Africa in the opening match, but won just one of their next four matches, losing to New Zealand and Sri Lanka and sharing the points with Bangladesh after the weather intervened. West Indies famous lost to Kenya at the 1996 World Cup but the Caribbean kings are still favourites to win tomorrow’s clash at De Beers Diamond Oval, though Hooper admits it will be hard to motivate his players. “We’ve still got to try and win it,” he said. “we’ve got to pick up spirits and morale up. It’s still a One-Day International, we’re still playing in the World Cup.” While Kenya are assured of their place in the next stage, West Indies face an anxious wait to see whether they have any hope left, with South Africa and New Zealand both playing their matches today. “We haven’t given up, because, you never know, cricket’s a funny game,” Hooper said.