WITH eight sides confirmed for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, the race to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 begins in Colombo tomorrow when Sri Lanka host the West Indies in a three-match series.Sri Lanka currently sit in fifth position on 103 points, while the West Indies are ranked eighth on 88 points. Each One-Day International (ODI) played over the next 23 months will count as the top eight sides on the ICC ODI Team Rankings as on September 30 2017 will progress to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, while the bottom four sides, along with the top sides from the ICC World Cricket League Championship and the ICC World Cricket League, will head to the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 to fight out for the two remaining slots.
As such, all 12 sides on the ICC ODI Team Rankings will not only be aiming to play as many matches as possible but also to win most of the matches so that they can make the cut and secure direct qualification for the pinnacle 50-over tournament, to be hosted by the England and Wales Cricket Board from May 30 to July 15, 2019.
As regards to the forthcoming series, Sri Lanka can collect a maximum of two points while five points will be up for grabs for the West Indies. However, they will only be able to pocket these points if they win all three matches of the series.
Both sides will retain pre-series points if the home side win the series 2-1, while a 2-1 result in favour of the visitors will mean they will move to 91 points and the hosts will slip to 102 points.