ICC World Cup Qualifiers, 2018: Afghanistan's scenarios for making it to the World Cup

Afghanistan were at the edge of getting knocked out from the World Cup Qualifiers in the league stage itself before Nepal’s win over Hong Kong saw them through to the Super Sixes. The Asian side need another such result to have a realistic chance of finishing in the top two of the Super Sixes stage and qualify for the 2019 World Cup. Afghanistan will be hoping UAE to defeat the hosts Zimbabwe before they face Ireland in the must-win game; the only way they will have a shot at a CWC spot right now.

Losses against Scotland and Zimbabwe meant Afghanistan didn’t carry forward any points to the Super Sixes round. However, defeating West Indies and UAE in their first two games brought back the hopes of the new full-member nation for making it to the World Cup. Zimbabwe, who have five points in their kitty, should not win the game against UAE. Zimbabwe not winning could mean a washout or a UAE win or even a Tie such that the hosts won’t get past six points.

Afghanistan, who currently have four points, will end up with a maximum of six points. In the case of both the teams ending up with six points, Afghans will finish ahead of Zimbabwe in the points table by the virtue of winning more than the hosts. Interestingly, Ireland and Afghanistan are on the same line as both have four points so far. They will also be hoping for a similar result from the UAE-Zimbabwe game before their final game on Friday.

NRR and West Indies factor:

The odd points for Zimbabwe and Scotland due to the Tied game between the two sides brought a close to the NRR equation. However, the result of the Scotland and Windies match could bring it out with the Associate nation registering a famous win. The winner of the team will directly find a place in the 2019 CWC while the loser is as good as knocked out. Scotland’s NRR is least among the teams in the contention means they will be out of the race with a loss.

However, Windies will have an outside chance if they can ensure they lose by a smaller margin. Along with Afghans and Irish, the Windies will also need to hope that Zimbabwe doesn’t win their final game against UAE if they lose to Scotland. Windies’ NRR is currently higher than Afghanistan and Ireland with both might not going ahead on winning by a smaller margin. Windies wouldn’t mind the Afghanistan-Ireland game getting washed out or ending in a Tie.