ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2018 Guide and Predictions

The quest to determine which 2 teams will qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 begins from 4th March 2018 in Zimbabwe. There are a total of 10 teams who are participating in the tournament including two-time world champions West Indies.

West Indies!? Disappointing but not surprising.

It is indeed not very surprising to see West Indies as part of the tournament given their failure to qualify for the Champions Trophy last year. However, Jason Holder, captain of the Caribbean team is dreaming of another world cup win this time while his team is still doubtful of qualifying for the World Cup. How about that for optimism?! His confidence is empowering for his team though since they must play their best cricket in order to even qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

How will the tournament be played?

The 10 teams have been divided into two groups.

GROUP A: Ireland, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, United Arab Emirates and West Indies

GROUP B: Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Nepal, Scotland and Zimbabwe

Each side will play the others in their group once. The top-3 from each group will then qualify for the next stage, i.e., the Super Sixes.
The results between the progressing teams will be considered in the Super Sixes stage and each team will play the qualifiers from the other group once.
Lastly, the top-2 teams after the Super Sixes stage will then face off in the final and will secure qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 along with the top eight ranked ICC teams.

CRICKET NOW Predictions:

The most likely result of this tournament will be the final being played between Afghanistan and West Indies as both these teams are still better than the other nations vying for the spot.

“It’s about time we win another World Cup!” says Jason Holder, even though they’re struggling to field a decent eleven. West Indies may be in a disastrous form but still are a better side than all the others in Group-A due to the presence of proven performers like Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels. Despite the absence of their captain for the early stages of the qualifiers, Afghanistan are also the favorites to qualify for the 2019 event due to the red-hot form they’ve been in for the past couple of years. They also hold a psychological edge over the West Indies after defeating them in the 2016 World T20 and the warm-up game held recently.

This is our prediction but cricket, as you know, is an unpredictable game. So, which of these 2 teams would be a part of the 2019 event will be decided by the end of next month.