Zimbabwe cricket team won the International Cricket Council (ICC) Spirit of The Year award for displaying a wonderful gesture against the West Indies during the 2023 World Cup qualifiers last year. With Alzarri Joseph's wicket inflicting a heartbreaking defeat on the West Indies, Zimbabwe players consoled him after the Antiguan was on his knees.
The dismissal occurred in the 45th over of the innings as the Caribbeans were in pursuit of 269. With the Men in Maroon at 233-9, Joseph played a flick off Tendai Chatara's bowling, but he couldn't keep the ball down as Sikandar Raza caught the ball to deliver a 35-run win. Amid their celebrations, Zimbabwe players went to console Joseph.
Zimbabwe and West Indies both miss out on playing in the 2023 World Cup:
However, both Zimbabwe and West Indies missed out on a World Cup berth, with Sri Lanka and the Netherlands going through instead. It was a steep fall for the Men in Maroon, having won consecutive titles in 1975 and 1979. However, the qualifiers saw them lose to the Netherlands and Scotland.
The loss to the Dutch was telling as the Netherlands tied the match even after the West Indies made 374. Later, Logan van Beek smashed 30 runs off the super over sent down by Jason Holder and took two wickets with the ball to seal one of their most memorable wins.
