West Indies lose points in race to World Cup 2019

Pakistan got the better of West Indies in the ODIs in the Caribbean in April © AFP

Pakistan have opened up a nine-point lead on West Indies in the updated ICC ODI rankings. Pakistan, ranked No. 8, and West Indies, ranked No. 9, are in a race to be in the top eight come September 30, the cut-off date for direct qualification for World Cup 2019 – only the top-eight teams qualify directly for the showpiece 50-over tournament.

At the other end of the rankings, South Africa and Australia have retained their No. 1 and 2 positions following the annual points update on May 1. The annual update discards older results from calculations; currently, after the update, the points reflect results from May 1, 2014 (50% weightage), with results from May 1, 2016 onwards carrying 100% weightage.

India and New Zealand have swapped places, with India moving up to No. 3. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh remain No. 6 and 7 respectively, with Afghanistan rounding off the top ten, above Zimbabwe and Ireland.

Ten teams outside the top eight in the ODI rankings will play a qualifying tournament in April 2018, from which the top two will make it to the ten-team World Cup in England the following year. After the update in points, Sri Lanka are on 93 points, Bangladesh on 91, Pakistan on 88 and West Indies on 79.

West Indies have ODI series against Afghanistan and England scheduled before the cut-off date, but will not be part of the eight-team Champions Trophy in England in June. Last month, West Indies had lost an ODI series to Pakistan 2-1 at home.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *