Sri Lanka,West Indies vie for last available automatic place in ICC World Cup 2019

India defeated the West Indies by 3-1 and Zimbabwe overpowered Sri Lanka by 3-2, resulting in changes to the ODI team rankings, giving West Indies renewed hope in the race to the 30 September 2017 cut-off date for direct qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

Sri Lanka had entered the series against Zimbabwe, needing to win by 4-1 or better to secure a place in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2017. However, the eventual result has brought the West Indies back in contention as Sri Lanka has slipped from 93 points to 88 points, which, in turn, has meant the 16 points gap between the eighth and ninth ranked sides has been trimmed to 10 points.

According to the current Future Tours Programme, which is available here, Sri Lanka will now have a second chance to qualify directly for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 when it hosts India for a five-ODI series in August. And if Sri Lanka wins two or more matches in this series, then it will qualify automatically for the ICC’s pinnacle 50-over tournament, irrespective of how England and the West Indies series pans out.

However, Sri Lanka’s failure to win two matches against India, will mean the West Indies will still have a chance to avoid featuring in next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

If India beats Sri Lanka by 4-1, then the West Indies will have to win all five matches against England. But, if India sweeps all five ODIs against Sri Lanka, then the West Indies will need to beat England by 4-0 or better.

These permutations give tremendous context to the presently scheduled upcoming ODIs as Sri Lanka and the West Indies will be fighting tooth and nail to secure the eighth and last available automatic place in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The remaining two places will be filed by the top two sides from the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, which will be completed by the bottom four sides from the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings, top four sides from the ICC World Cricket League Championship and top two sides from the ICC World Cricket League.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has received points boost following its 3-2 series win. For this achievement, Zimbabwe has earned five points, which has lifted it to 52 points – two behind 10th-ranked Afghanistan and 11 ahead of 12th-ranked Ireland.

In the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings, there are a number of movements but the top five batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders have remained unchanged.

In the batting table, India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni has moved up three places to 12th after scoring 154 runs in the series, while Ajinkya Rahane has been rewarded for finishing as the leading run-getter in the series with 336 runs with a jump of 13 places that has put him just outside the top 20 on a career-high 23rd position. West Indies’ Shai Hope has vaulted 20 places to 61st in the latest rankings.

Batsmen heading in the right direction following Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe series are Niroshan Dickwella 38th (up by seven places), Sikandar Raza 51st (up by three places), Hamilton Masakadza 57th (up by 14 places), Upul Tharanga 64th (up by 10 places) and Danushka Gunathilaka 70th (up by 36 places).

Virat Kohli of India is on top of the table, followed by David Warner, AB de Villiers, Joe Root and Babar Azam.

In the bowlers’ list, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jason Holder and Ravichandran Ashwin have returned to the top 20.

Kumar has moved up six places to 13th, Holder is now 18th after lifting five places following his eight wickets in the series, while Ashwin is 20th after leaping 10 places.

Other bowlers to make an upward movement include Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer 33rd (up by 18 places), Umesh Yadav of India 37th (up by five places), West Indies’ Ashley Nurse 45th (up by 13 places), Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga 54th (up by three places), Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza 58th (up by 32 places) and India’s Hardik Pandya 63rd (up by 32 places).

Josh Hazlewood is the number-one ranked bowler, followed by Imran Tahir, Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult.

Sikandar Raza and Hardik Pandya are the biggest movers in the all-rounders’ list, which is headed by Shakib Al Hasan. Raza has jumped 17 places to claim 10th position for the first time in his career, while Pandya is now 26th after moving up 22 places.

Upcoming ODIs, currently scheduled on the FTP in the lead up to the 30 September 2017 cut-off date, are:

Sri Lanka v India

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

England v West Indies

19 Sep – 1st ODI Old Trafford

21 Sep – 2nd ODI, Nottingham

24 Sep – 3rd ODI, Bristol

27 Sep – 4th ODI, The Oval

29 Sep – 5th ODI, Southampton

MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 11 July after West Indies v India and Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe series):

Rank    Team               Points

1.     South Africa      119

2.     Australia           117

3.     India                 114 (-2)

4.     England            113

5.     New Zealand     111

6.     Pakistan           95

7.     Bangladesh       94

8.     Sri Lanka          88 (-5)

9.     West Indies       78 (+1)

10.  Afghanistan       54

11.  Zimbabwe         52 (+6)

12.  Ireland              41

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 11 July after West Indies v India and Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe 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        (+2)        Hashim Amla       SA          741        50.25    901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

SELECTED RANKINGS

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Avge      Highest Rating

  12        (+3)        MS Dhoni             Ind         728        51.32    836 v Aus at Delhi 2009

  13        (-3)         Shikhar Dhawan  Ind         725        43.76    794 v SA at Melbourne 2015

  23        (+13)      Ajinkya Rahane    Ind         631!      34.77    631 v WI at Jamaica 2017

  27        (-1)         Angelo Mathews  SL          611        40.68    707 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014

  30        (-3)         Kusal Mendis       SL          602*      36.23    631 v Zim at Galle 2017

  38        (+7)        N. Dickwella         SL          568*      42.61    590 v Zim at Hambantota 2017

  44        (+3)        Kedar Jadhav       Ind         560*      56.50    571 v WI at Antigua 2017

  51        (+3)        Sikandar Raza     Zim        530        32.92    576 v Afg at Bulawayo 2015

  54        (-6)         D. Chandimal       SL          523        33.44    667 v Aus at Adelaide 2012

  57        (+14)      H. Masakadza      Zim        513        29.03    566 v Ban at Mirpur 2009

  61        (+20)      Shai Hope            WI          503*!     41.60    503 v Ind at Jamaica 2017

  64        (+10)      Upul Tharanga     SL          497        33.43    663 v NZ at Napier 2006

  65        (-3)         Sean Williams      Zim        496        31.68    556 v Ind at Auckland 2015

  68        (-2)         Craig Ervine         Zim        487        34.00    524 v Afg at Bulawayo 2015

  70        (+36)      D. Gunathilaka     SL          483*!     33.28    483 v Zim at Hambantota 2017

  71        (-6)         Johnson Charles  WI          479        26.72    592 v Ind at Trinidad 2013

  74        (-7)         Kusal Perera        SL          475        27.83    552 v Eng at Edgbaston 2016

  75        (-6)         E. Chigumbura     Zim        472        25.47    554 v SA at Bulawayo 2007

BOWLING (top 10)

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Avge      Eco.       Highest Rating

   1         ( - )         Josh 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         (+1)        Trent Boult           NZ          665        25.48    5.00      766 v Ind at Delhi 2016

   6         (+1)        Hasan Ali             Pak        663*!     22.66    5.47      663 v Ind at The Oval 2017

   7         (-2)         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        ( - )         Mohammad Nabi Afg         618        32.74    4.29      653 v Zim at Harare 2017

SELECTED RANKINGS

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Avge      Eco.       Highest Rating

  13        (+6)        B. Kumar              Ind         608        37.74    4.88      657 v WI at Dharamsala 2014

  18        (+5)        Jason Holder        WI          592        32.50    5.40      605 v SL at Bulawayo 2016

  20=      (+10)      R. Ashwin             Ind         585        32.91    4.91      691 v SL at Hambantota 2012

              (-4)         Akshar Patel        Ind         585*      30.20    4.38      624 v NZ at Visakhapatnam 2016

  22        (-4)         Amit Mishra          Ind         579*      23.60    4.72      618 v NZ at Visakhapatnam 2016

  29        (RE)       M. Shami              Ind         556        24.69    5.46      654 v Ban at Melbourne 2015

  31        (-7)         Jasprit Bumrah     Ind         551*      26.42    4.92      565 v Pak at The Oval 2017

32        (-1)         Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         547        35.87    4.90      738 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013

  33        (+18)      Graeme Cremer   Zim        546*!     31.81    4.60      546 v SL at Hambantota 2017

  37=      (-6)         Suranga Lakmal   SL          537        30.47    5.50      563 v Ban at Colombo (SSC) 2017

              (+5)        Umesh Yadav      Ind         537        32.84    5.92      600 v Ban at Melbourne 2015

  45        (+13)      Ashley Nurse       WI          506*      27.34    4.66      517 v Ind at Antigua 2017

  48        ( - )         Tendai Chatara    Zim        496        33.18    5.19      562 v Ire at Hobart 2015

  58        (+32)      Sikandar Raza     Zim        466*!     43.54    4.88      466 v SL at Hambantota 2017

  59        (-7)         N. Kulasekara      SL          461        33.92    4.90      727 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009

  61        (-8)         Sean Williams      Zim        458        50.03    4.90      477 v Sco at Edinburgh 2017

  66        (+20)      Nuwan Pradeep   SL          448*      40.00    5.93      453 v Zim at Hambantota 2017

  70        (-7)         T. Panyangara     Zim        435        46.53    5.69      492 v Ban at Mirpur 2015

ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Highest Rating

   1         ( - )         Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        353       453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

   2         ( - )         M. Hafeez            Pak        339       438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

   3         ( - )         Mohammad Nabi Afg         329       349 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017

   4         (+1)        James Faulkner   Aus        299       361 v NZ at Melbourne 2015

   5         (-1)         Angelo Mathews  SL          294       427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014