2018 ICC World Cup Qualifiers

[AlwaysGreen]

Points table with everyone playing their last game in the next 3 days.

WI 6
Zim 5
Sco 5
Ire 4
Afg 4
UAE 0

 

[undertaker]

West Indies in trouble at 6/158.

Do-or-die for both teams. Winner is through to the World Cup, loser is almost certainly gone with Zimbabwe to play bottom-placed UAE. Would be a massive blow for the West Indies if they failed to qualify, after the powerhouse side they were for years.

Ireland/Afghanistan's qualification chances are very small, and rely heavily on UAE pulling off a big upset against the Zimbots.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

That's what i said

 

[Bazal]

The Scots are looking good at the moment. Windies 7/176

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Windies crumbling. 8 down for 184.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Scotland 3/25

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Rain ruins Scotland's hopes. Chasing 199 they were 5/125 when rain came, 5 runs behind the D/L score. A cruel way to lose the game and the chance to make the world cup.

West Indies qualify.

If Zimbabwe beat UAE today they will also go through. If they lose it's down to Ireland v Afghanistan.

A tie/ni result will also see Zim go through - chance of a storm in Harare today.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Scotland would have been ahead of the D/L score if they had been 4 down for 125, a dodgy lbw call may have sealed their fate.

That said the rain was well forecasted and they had the opportunity to up the run rate and get themselves above the D/L target but didn't.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

UAE were 7/235 off 48 before rain stopped play. Play about to restart, no revised total as yet.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Zimbabwe lose by 3 runs to basically fluff a golden opportunity to qualify.

A very strange decision to send UAE in cost them, they basically handed control of the game tp the opposition.

It comes down to Ireland v Afghanistan. Winner goes through. If it is a washout Ireland go through on superior net run rate. Afghanistan may have peaked at the right time although Ireland are the more consistent team.

 

[Timbo]

They were cruising until Sean Williams got out, it was an absolute screamer to get him too.

I hope Ireland can go through - they've worked by far the hardest to get here. Afghanistan are a great story, but they got all the leg-ups in the world to help them advance so there'd be another tier 1 team in India's timezone. Ireland wasn't wanted by anyone and did it all themselves.

 

[Bazal]

I don't mind which side goes through, tbh. Love 'em both.

Probably slightly favouring the Afghans purely because I want to see Rashid Khan at the WC

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Afghanistan need 210 to beat Ireland to the last spot

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Afghanistan 1/86 in the 17th

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Tight as a nun's nasty as Afghanistan play safety first. Will it work?

46 runs. 40 balls. 6 wickets in hand.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Afghanistan win and take the tenth and final spot in the 2019 world cup.

They were gone for all money after losing their first 3 matches but somehow toughed it out. They've got guts this mob.

For some reason there is a final between Afghanistan and the Windies which I'm sure about 3 people world wide will care about.

 

[JJ]

Great that Afghanistan qualified - but short-sighted to restrict it to 10 IMO - always good to see a few extra teams there - sad it wont be that way this time

 

[ANTiLAG]

Great that Afghanistan qualified - but short-sighted to restrict it to 10 IMO - always good to see a few extra teams there - sad it wont be that way this time

Harsh for Zimbabwe - but it will make for a world cup of constant high quality matches. 10 teams - 1 group, and WI and Afg the 2 weakest teams. This will be a high quality World Cup where the group phase matters a lot as top 4 goto semi's and everyone plays each other once in group. None of this top 8 waltz into quarters with a losing record to top teams.

It is bad for associates, and Zim and Ire, I agree, but magnificent for the general fan. And good for the batsmen to get 9 opportunities before the finals - lets hope not too many top seamers get injured. But even then, depth matters in tournaments.

 

[vvvrulz]

It is bad for associates, and Zim and Ire, I agree, but magnificent for the general fan.

Speak for yourself, it should have been 12 teams with Zimbabwe and Ireland involved.

Don't know what you're talking about with this "Top 8 waltzing nonsense" either:
- 2003 Kenya caused a load of upsets
- 2007 Bangladesh beat India and South Africa, Ireland beat Pakistan, both don't go further
- 2011 Ireland beat England, Netherlands pushed England hard
- 2015 Ireland destroy West Indies, Bangers defeat England and they go home early

I for one thoroughly enjoy watching the associates showcase their talent.
I agree the likes of UAE is a stretch, but there's plenty of room for 12.

 

[ANTiLAG]

Speak for yourself,

I was.

it should have been 12 teams with Zimbabwe and Ireland involved.

Why should it be?

Don't know what you're talking about with this "Top 8 waltzing nonsense" either:

Because the tournament will go straight from a single group to a 4 team semi final phase instead of a 8 team quarter finals from split group phase.

- 2003 Kenya caused a load of upsets
- 2007 Bangladesh beat India and South Africa, Ireland beat Pakistan, both don't go further
- 2011 Ireland beat England, Netherlands pushed England hard
- 2015 Ireland destroy West Indies, Bangers defeat England and they go home early

These are great upsets, but there's been many thrashings in between. And I'm not sure why you have included Bangladesh in your list.

In 2019, 6 teams of AUS, SA, IND, NZ, PAK, SL, WI, Bang, Eng, and AFG will not be waltzing into the finals. Bangladesh may still win games too, even Afghanistan may. At a guess, teams will need to win 6 games out of 9 to be guaranteed a semi final spot with a possible 4th place of 5 wins being a NRR thriller in the final rounds. Although rain in England will probably mean the no result points make a difference too.

I for one thoroughly enjoy watching the associates showcase their talent.
I agree the likes of UAE is a stretch, but there's plenty of room for 12.

Fair points, but many of the fans would rather see more top teams play each other in the group pool phase with one group, instead of the split group and more associates games which get lower rankings, and create an easier passage to the quarter finals for the top teams. The ICC is looking to give the general fan more of what they want, this increases the broadcast value of the tournament and the ICC reap the profits as a result. These profits help non Big 3 teams play non-profitable test cricket and have domestic first class structures. It is actually quite important for global cricket that the World Cup is highly profitable. Top teams playing top teams just gets better ratings globally. And many of us, myself included, are fond of an associate underdog upset win but they're still a rarity whereas watching top teams play each other is typically better entertainment. 1 Pool group assists of the top 10 teams achieves this no end. Afghanistan may yet still provide the upset wins and a fairytale story.