England will aim to move ahead of fifth-ranked Sri Lanka in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings when the two sides go head to head in a five-match ODI series starting at Trent Bridge on Tuesday (tomorrow).
England are currently in sixth position on 103 points, two behind Sri Lanka, and requires a 4-1 series win to leapfrog Sri Lanka. A 5-0 sweep of the series will mean England will finish on 108 points as compared to Sri Lanka’s 100 points.
On the other side of the coin, if Sri Lanka win all the five matches of the series, then it will rise to 109 points to claim fifth position behind third-ranked South Africa and fourth-ranked India. A 3-2 series will gain one points, while England will drop one point.
Meanwhile, the West Indies have gained five valuable points and has moved to 93 points after winning a match each against world champions Australia and South Africa in the ongoing tri-series in the Caribbean.
The West Indies had started the series on 88 points and can potentially move ahead of seventh-ranked Bangladesh if they remains unbeaten in their forthcoming matches.
As England, along with the next seven highest ranked sides as on 30 September 2017, will qualify directly for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, every point earned in the lead up to the cut-off date is extremely crucial and vital. And more importantly for the teams bunched in the middle of the pack, with fifth-ranked Sri Lanka separated by ninth-ranked Pakistan by 18 points.
After seven matches of the tri-series, number-one ranked Australia are on 122 points after dropping two points, while third-ranked South Africa are on 111 after dropping one point. If South Africa lose to the West Indies on Friday, 24 June, then they will end up on 110 points and a fraction of a point behind India.
There are limited tickets still available for England's ODI clash with Sri Lanka at The SSE SWALEC, Cardiff. To secure your seats for the match, click here.