West Indies will have to fight for their spot in the 2019 World Cup © Getty Images
West Indies will have to fight for their spot in the 2019 World Cup © Getty Images

West Indies along with nine other sides will feature in the World Cup 2018 qualifiers starting next month in Zimbabwe. Two teams out of the 10 will make it to the World Cup 2019 which will be held in England.

Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland will be major attraction along with West Indies in the qualifiers. These teams failed to make it in the top eight ICC ODI team ranking. Hong Kong, Netherland, Scotland and Papua New Guinea who finished top four in the ICC World Cricket League Championship will also be a part of the qualifiers.

Teams like Canada, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Oman and United Arab Emirates will fight for the remaining two spots in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div.2) The finalist of the league will take part in the qualifiers.

The 10 teams will be divided in two groups where each side will play other team in the group at least once. The top three will make it to the Super Six stage. The finalist of the Super Six stage will qualify for the World Cup 2019.

Groups:

Group A: Windies (A1); Ireland (A2); Netherlands (A3); Papua New Guinea (A4); ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div.2) winner (A5)

Group B: Afghanistan (B1); Zimbabwe (B2); Scotland (B3); Hong Kong (B4); ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div.2) runners-up (B5)

Zimbabwe will feature in the opening match of qualifiers on March 4.

Warm-up matches fixtures
Date Day Match Venue
Feb-27 Tuesday Afghanistan vs West Indies Harare Sports Club
Hong Kong vs Netherlands Old Hararians
WCL (winner) vs WCL (runners-up) Kwekwe
Zimbabwe vs Ireland Queens Sports Club
Scotland vs PNG Bulawayo Athletic Club
Mar-01 Thursday WCL (winner) vs West Indies Harare Sports Club
Afghanistan vs Netherlands Old Hararians
Hong Kong vs WCL (runners-up) Kwekwe
Scotland vs Ireland Queens Sports Club
Zimbabwe vs PNG Bulawyo Athletic Club
Tournament first round
Date Day Match Venue
Mar-04 Sunday PNG vs WCL (winner) Harare Sports Club
Ireland vs Netherlands Old Hararians
Zimbabwe vs WCL (runners-up) Queens Sports Club
Afghanistan vs Scotland Bulawayo Athletic Club
Mar-06 Tuesday PNG vs Ireland Harare Sports Club
West Indies vs WCL (winner) Old Hararians
Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan Queens Sports Club
Scotland vs Hong Kong Bulawayo Athletic Club
Mar-08 Thursday Netherlands vs WCL (winner) Harare Sports Club
West Indies vs PNG Old Hararians
Scotland vs WCL (runners-up) Queens Sports Club
Afghanistan vs Hong Kong Bulawayo Athletic Club
Mar-10 Saturday West Indies vs Ireland Harare Sports Club
PNG vs Netherlands Old Hararian
Zimbabwe vs Hong Kong Queens Sports Club
Afghanistan vs WCL (runners-up) Bulawayo Athletic Club
Mar-12 Monday West Indies vs Netherlands Harare Sports Club
Ireland vs WCL (winner) Old Hararian
Hong Kong vs WCL (runners-up) Queens Sports Club
Zimbabwe vs Scotland Bulawayo Athletic Club
Super Sixes
Date Day Matches Venue
Mar-15 Thursday A1 vs B1 Harare Sports Club
A3 vs B3 Queens Sports Club
A5 vs B4 (play-off) Old Hararian
A4 vs B5 (play-off) Kwekwe
Mar-16 Friday A2 vs B2 Harare Sports Club
Mar-17 Saturday 9th vs 10th play-off Old Hararian
7th vs 8th play-off Kwekwe
Mar-18 Sunday A2 vs B3 Harare Sports Club
Mar-19 Monday A1 vs B2 Harare Sports Club
Mar-20 Tuesday A3 vs B1 Harare Sports Club
Mar-22 Thursday A1 vs B3 Harare Sports Club
A3 vs B2 Old Hararian
Mar-23 Friday A2 vs B1 Harare Sports Club
Mar-25 Sunday Final Harare Sports Club

The ICC World Cup 2019 will be hosted in England starting from May 30 to July 14.