Chance for Sri Lanka to seal direct place in ICC Cricket WC 2019
The 1996 World champions will have to win at least two matches to secure a place in the pinnacle 50-over competition by staving off the challenge from the West Indies. The cut-off date for direct qualification is 30 September.
Sri Lanka is currently placed eighth with 88 points, 10 points more than the West Indies, which has an unenviable task in its aim of being among the seven top-ranked sides apart from host England to gain direct qualification.
The bottom four sides on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings will need to play a Qualifying event also featuring the top four sides from the ICC World Cricket League Championship and top two sides from the ICC World Cricket League. The top two teams from this event will get to play in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Winning two matches will take Sri Lanka to 90 points while The Windies side will at best reach 88 points even if it wins its one-off ODI against Ireland on 13 September as well as all five matches of its series in England from 19-29 September.
However, a 4-1 win for India will see Sri Lanka finish at 88 points and The Windies could edge it on decimal points if it wins all its upcoming six matches. The Windies side will go out of contention if it loses to Ireland as from there it will at best reach 86 points and remain behind Sri Lanka on decimal points, even if Sri Lanka loses 5-0 to India.
As for India, which is in third position with 114 points, only a 4-1 series win will ensure it stays ahead of England. Even a 3-2 win for India will mean it will slip to 113 points and behind England on decimal points owing to Sri Lanka’s low ranking.
Series scenarios:
India wins 5-0 – India 117 points; Sri lanka 86 points.
India wins 4-1 – India 115 points, Sri Lanka 88 points.
India wins 3-2 – India 113 points, Sri Lanka 90 points.
Sri Lanka wins 3-2 – India 111 points, Sri Lanka 91 points.
Sri Lanka wins 4-1 – India 109 points, Sri Lanka 93 points.
Sri Lanka wins 5-0 – India 106 points, Sri Lanka 94 points.
As for the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings, India captain Virat Kohli goes into the series as the world’s top-ranked ODI batsman with 873 points and a chance to increase his 12-point lead over Australia’s David Warner.
Former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (12th), Shikhar Dhawan (13th) and vice-captain Rohit Sharma (14th) are the other leading India batsmen while pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar (13th), left-arm spinner Akshar Patel (20th) and Jasprit Bumrah (31st) are the leading bowlers in the side.
For Sri Lanka, all-rounder Angelo Mathews is the leading player among batsmen (27th) as well as bowlers (53rd) and the only all-rounder in the series among the top-five. Kusal Mendis (30th), Niroshan Dickwella (38th) and captain Upul Tharanga (64th) are its other leading batsmen.
India v Sri Lanka series schedule:
20 Aug – 1st ODI, Dambulla
24 Aug – 2nd ODI, Pallekele
27 Aug – 3rd ODI, Pallekele
31 Aug – 4th ODI, Colombo
3 Sep – 5th ODI, Colombo
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 18 August, before the India v Sri Lanka series):
Rank Team Points
1. South Africa 119
2. Australia 117
3. India 114
4. England 113
5. New Zealand 111
6. Pakistan 95
7. Bangladesh 94
8. Sri Lanka 88
9. West Indies 78
10. Afghanistan 54
11. Zimbabwe 52
12. Ireland 41
(Developed by David Kendix)
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 18 August, before the India v Sri Lanka series):
BATTING (top 10)
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 Virat Kohli Ind 873 54.68 886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014
2 David Warner Aus 861 44.72 880 v Pak at Adelaide 2017
3 AB de Villiers SA 847 53.55 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015
4 Joe Root Eng 799 49.37 806 v NZ at Cardiff 2017
5 Babar Azam Pak 786*! 53.88 786 v Ind at The Oval 2017
6 Kane Williamson NZ 779 46.98 798 v SA at Centurion 2015
7 Quinton de Kock SA 769 43.44 803 v NZ at Wellington 2017
8 Faf du Plessis SA 768 43.41 791 v SL at Cape Town 2017
9 Martin Guptill NZ 749 43.30 789 v SA at Hamilton 2017
10 Hashim Amla SA 741 50.25 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012
OTHER SELECTED RANKINGS
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
12 MS Dhoni Ind 728 51.32 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009
13 Shikhar Dhawan Ind 725 43.76 794 v SA at Melbourne 2015
14 Rohit Sharma Ind 724 42.46 761 v Aus at Sydney 2016
23 Ajinkya Rahane Ind 631! 34.77 631 v WI at Jamaica 2017
27 Angelo Mathews SL 611 40.68 707 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
30 Kusal Mendis SL 602* 36.23 631 v Zim at Galle 2017
38 N. Dickwella SL 568* 42.61 590 v Zim at Hambantota 2017
44 Kedar Jadhav Ind 560* 56.50 571 v WI at Antigua 2017
54 D. Chandimal SL 523 33.44 667 v Aus at Adelaide 2012
64 Upul Tharanga SL 497 33.43 663 v NZ at Napier 2006
70 D. Gunathilaka SL 483*! 33.28 483 v Zim at Hambantota 2017
BOWLING (top 10)
Rank Player Team Points Avge Eco. Highest Rating
1 J. Hazlewood Aus 732! 23.85 4.69 732 v Eng at Edgbaston 2017
2 Imran Tahir SA 718 23.87 4.66 786 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
3 Mitchell Starc Aus 701 20.13 4.81 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
4 Kagiso Rabada SA 685 26.30 5.11 724 v Eng at Lord's 2017
5 Trent Boult NZ 665 25.48 5.00 766 v Ind at Delhi 2016
6 Hasan Ali Pak 663*! 22.66 5.47 663 v Ind at The Oval 2017
7 Sunil Narine WI 662 26.46 4.12 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013
8 Rashid Khan Afg 647*! 14.74 3.97 647 v WI at St Lucia 2017
9 Chris Woakes Eng 627 31.60 5.58 651 v SA at Headingley 2017
10 M. Nabi Afg 618 32.74 4.29 653 v Zim at Harare 2017
OTHER SELECTED RANKINGS
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Eco. Highest Rating
13 B. Kumar Ind 608 37.74 4.88 657 v WI at Dharamsala 2014
20= Akshar Patel Ind 585* 30.20 4.38 624 v NZ at Visakhapatnam 2016
31 Jasprit Bumrah Ind 551* 26.42 4.92 565 v Pak at The Oval 2017
ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)
Rank Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 S. Al Hasan Ban 353 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
2 M. Hafeez Pak 339 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
3 M. Nabi Afg 329 349 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017
4 James Faulkner Aus 299 361 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
5 Angelo Mathews SL 294 427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
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