West Indies braced for World Cup qualifying trial

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The West Indies side face an arduous task of trying to qualify direct for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 as they brace for an upcoming one-off ODI against Ireland in Belfast on 13 September and a five-match ODI series against England from 19 to 29 September.

The West Indies side are currently on 78 points in the ICC ODI Team Rankings, eight points behind eighth-placed Sri Lanka, whom it will need to overtake in order to qualify.

The top seven ODI sides apart from host England as on 30 September qualify direct for ICC’s pinnacle 50-over event, which will take place from 30 May to 15 July 2019 in the United Kingdom.

The 1975 and 1979 champion side will have to beat Ireland and then also defeat England either 5-0 or a 4-1 margin in which they win the last four matches.

In other words, losing any match other than the opening match against England at Old Trafford on 19 September will allow Sri Lanka a direct passage.

Teams not getting direct places in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will get another shot through a Qualifying tournament.

The ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 will feature the bottom four sides from the ICC ODI Team Rankings, the top four sides from the ICC World Cricket League Championship and the top two sides from ICC World Cricket League Division 2.

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The top two sides from the World Cup Qualifier will complete the 10-team line-up for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

As for fourth-placed England, it will be able to gain a maximum of one point and reach 114 points, even if it wins the series 5-0. On the other hand, a 5-0 series loss will see it go down to fifth position and 106 points.

In the individual rankings, Joe Root is the leading England batsman in fourth position while Chris Woakes is the leading bowler at 11th place.

For the Windies, Marlon Samuels (43rd) and captain Jason Holder (20th) are the leading batsman and bowler, respectively.

Meanwhile, India hosts Australia for five ODIs from 17 September to 1 October, a series that gives both sides a chance to go atop the rankings table currently led by South Africa with 119 points.

India and Australia are both on 117 points with Australia ahead on decimal points. A win for either side by a margin of 4-1 or better will see it move to number one position.

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