'Let ourselves down': West Indies fail to reach World Cup

West Indies' fall from the top of global cricket is complete after the two-time World Cup champions missed qualification for the 50-over tournament for the first time.

Already forced to go through the qualifying stage because of their plummet down the world rankings, West Indies' hopes of reaching the tournament stage were ended on Saturday with a seven-wicket loss to Scotland.

That has knocked them out of the qualifiers at the Super Six stage, after previous losses to hosts Zimbabwe and Netherlands (in a Super Over) during the initial group stage.

Scotland won the toss and elected to bowl, restricting the Windies to 181 all out in 43.5 overs. Brandon McMullen was the pick of the bowlers with 3-32 from nine overs.

Scotland chased down their target with ease, reaching 3-185 in 43.3 overs as McMullen completed a fine all-round double with 69 from 106 balls and opener Matthew Cross an unbeaten 74.

The result left West Indies with no points with two Super Six matches to come and unable to catch Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe (currently first and second with six points) to qualify for this year's ODI World Cup in India.

Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Scotland and the Netherlands each remain in contention for the two qualification spots for the World Cup.

It was the West Indies first loss to Scotland in the 50-over format and their own coach Daren Sammy didn't hold back in his assessment that they were the worst fielding team in the qualifiers and were poor again on Saturday.

"We need to look at all areas. We have let ourselves down at this tournament. We have to go one way from here and that is up," captain Shai Hope said at the post-match presentation.

"I don't think we gave that 100 per cent effort every single time. We only did it in patches."

There have been mitigating circumstances. 

The team have battled with illness and injuries, but the fact that their only victories in five matches in Zimbabwe have come against Nepal and the United States is a very poor return.

"The preparation needs to be better. We can't expect to be an elite team without that backing from (the cricket board) at home," Hope said.

The top two teams in the Super Six table qualify for the World Cup, which will be staged in India from October 5 to November 19.

West Indies won the first two tournaments, played in 1975 and 1979, and were losing finalists in the third.