April 12 (CRICKETNMORE) - The West Indies and Pakistan have failed to make the most of the opportunity to strengthen their positions for direct qualification to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 as their One Day International series ended 2-1 in Pakistan’s favour in Guyana on Tuesday.
The West Indies won the first match with its highest ever chase of 309 but failed to maintain the momentum which could have taken it to 87 points with a 3-0 win, ahead of its rival by a fraction. Pakistan could similarly have moved up to 92 points, edging ahead of seventh-placed Bangladesh by a fraction had it won all three matches.
In the end, there was not too much movement as Pakistan gained one point to reach 90 points on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings to remain in eighth position while the West Indies lost one point to also remain on its pre-series ninth position with 83 points.
England and the seven other top teams on 30 September 2017 will qualify directly for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 with the remaining four teams getting a second chance through a 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifying tournament in 2018.
This was the final series before the annual update is carried out on 1 May to ensure the table continues to reflect teams’ recent form with older results being discarded. This means that when the ODI team rankings are overhauled on 1 May, the table will reflect all matches from 1 May 2014 with matches played from 1 May 2016 to carry 100 per cent weighting.
ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 12 April, after West Indies-Pakistan series)
ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 12 April, after West Indies-Pakistan series)
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
Media Release by ICC-Cricket