Pakistan, West Indies weaken their claims for direct World Cup qualification

West Indies and Pakistan who battled it out in a 3 match ODI series failed to make full use of their opportunity to strengthen their position on a direct qualification for World Cup 2019. Though Pakistan eventually won the series by a 2-1 margin after losing the opening encounter it wasn’t enough to bolster their rating points.

West Indies chased a record score of 307 to return triumphant in the opening ODI but failed to replicate their performance in the remaining two matches. A 3-0 victory could have taken them to 87 points and on the same front, a similar scoreline in favour of Pakistan could have pushed them to 92 points. In that case, Pakistan would have edged past their neighbours Bangladesh by a fraction.

Pakistan eventually gained a solitary rating point and is sitting in the 8^th position with 90 rating points. On the other hand, West Indies maintained their position before the series with 83 points to their kitty. It will be a tricky situation for both teams who have been former World Champions. While the Caribbeans won the opening two World Cups in 1975 and 1979, Pakistan their one and only title in 1992.

England will directly qualify being the hosts of the tournament along with the other top 7 teams. 30^th September 2017 is the last date for direct qualification and both the teams will be eager to improve on their positions. This was the last series before the annual update of rankings is carried out on May 1. It aims to reflect current performances eliminating the older results.

MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 12 April, after West Indies-Pakistan series)

Rank    Team                Points

1.     South Africa      119

2.     Australia           118

3.     New Zealand     113

4.     India                 112

5.     England            108

6.     Sri Lanka          98

7.     Bangladesh       92

8.     Pakistan           90 (+1)

9.     West Indies       83 (-1)

10.  Afghanistan      52

11.  Zimbabwe         48

12.  Ireland              42

Note: The post published earlier contained wrong information and we regret the inconvenience caused