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West Indies secured their place in the Super Eight with a 6-wicket win over Zimbabwe yesterday, but they were far from convincing, while a determined performance from Zim right up to the final ball will give them hope of securing their own place in Wednesday's match against Pakistan.

West Indies won the toss and elected to field. The Sabina Park wicket was considerably more batsman-friendly than it had been in previous matches, but Zimbabwe's openers never got the chance to put it to the test as Vusi Sibanda and Friday Kasteni were removed to leave Zim in immediate trouble on 2/2. Justice Chibhabha, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams and Elton Chigumbura saved Zim's blushes - Taylor and Williams in particular digging in to make sure that the score made stready progress without taking too many risks along the way. When Taylor was run-out after a calling mix-up in the 41st over, it was the cue for Chigumbura to come in and slog for a while, ensuring that Zim at least passed the 200 mark - not a great total on this surface, but a respectable one nonetheless. Williams top-scored for Zim with 70 not out, his highest ODI score to date, while Jerome Taylor was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with 2/42 from his 10 overs.

West Indies should have been able to run the target of 203 down with minimal problems, but some tight bowling by the Zimbabweans made sure that the Windies were never allowed to get significantly ahead of the required scoring rate, with Prosper Utseya, Chris Mpofu and Tawanda Mupariwa all doing their part to keep the pressure on the West Indian batsmen. Mpofu, Mupariwa, Elton Chigumbura and Anthony Ireland all took one wicket apiece, but unfortunately Zim needed to take more than four wickets if they were really to worry the home side, and sadly that didn't happen. Brian Lara and Dwayne Bravo eventually saw their side home in the 48th over - a win, but a win that will probably leave other teams in the Super Eight seeing the Windies as a possible scalp. Ireland may also fancy their chances when the two sides meet on Friday.

After this result, if they're to progress to the Super Eight Zimbabwe need a win against Pakistan on Wednesday, and a West Indies win against Ireland - and for Zim to end the group stage with a better Net Run Rate than Ireland. That leaves their fate at least partly in other peoples' hands, but at least the chance is still there.
Zimbabwe 202/5 (50 overs; Williams 70*, Taylor 2/42), West Indies 204/4 (47.5 overs; Lara 44*, Mupariwa 1/34, Mpofu 1/34). West Indies win by 6 wickets. Check below the cut for the full scorecard.

Zimbabwe innings
V Sibanda 	b Powell 			1
F Kasteni 	b Taylor 			0
CJ Chibhabha 	b Taylor 			12
BRM Taylor 	run out (Bravo/Samuels) 	50
S Matsikenyeri 	c Powell b Smith 		16
SC Williams 	not out 			70
E Chigumbura 	not out 			30
		Extras 	(b 1, lb 7, w 15) 	23 					
	    Total 	(5 wickets; 50 overs) 	202 					

Did not bat: P Utseya, T Mupariwa, CB Mpofu, AJ Ireland

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Kasteni, 1.1 ov), 2-2 (Sibanda, 2.2 ov), 
3-31 (Chibhabha, 9.2 ov), 4-59 (Matsikenyeri, 17.4 ov), 
5-142 (Taylor, 40.6 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
DB Powell 	6 	1 	15 	1 	2.50 	(2w)
JE Taylor 	10 	0 	42 	2 	4.20 	(7w)
CD Collymore 	9 	0 	29 	0 	3.22 	(2w)
DR Smith 	5 	0 	28 	1 	5.60 	(3w)
CH Gayle 	10 	1 	32 	0 	3.20 	(1w)
MN Samuels 	10 	1 	48 	0 	4.80 	


West Indies innings
CH Gayle 	c Sibanda b Mpofu 		40
S Chanderpaul 	c Sibanda b Chigumbura 		21
RR Sarwan 	c & b Ireland 			12
MN Samuels 	c Chibhabha b Mupariwa 		28
BC Lara 	not out 			44
DJ Bravo 	not out 			37
	    Extras 	(lb 10, w 10, nb 2) 	22 					
	    Total 	(4 wickets; 47.5 overs) 204 					

Did not bat: DR Smith, D Ramdin, JE Taylor, DB Powell, 
CD Collymore

Fall of wickets: 1-73 (Chanderpaul, 17.3 ov), 
2-73 (Gayle, 18.1 ov), 3-106 (Sarwan, 24.6 ov), 
4-129 (Samuels, 32.6 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
CB Mpofu 	9 	1 	34 	1 	3.77 	(8w)
AJ Ireland 	7 	0 	38 	1 	5.42 	
T Mupariwa 	9 	2 	34 	1 	3.77 	(1nb)
E Chigumbura 	9.5	0 	45 	1 	4.57 	(1nb, 2w)
P Utseya 	10 	1 	26 	0 	2.60 	
SC Williams 	3 	0 	17 	0 	5.66