West Indies need to be smart to qualify for World Cup 2019: Law

Bengaluru, March 3: The West Indies coach Stuart Law said his side will have to be smarter in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, which will produce two sides that will complete the 10-team line-up for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

The World Cup Qualifiers will begin in Harare, Zimbabwe, from Sunday (March 4).

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"It is not going to be making 300 plus and then bowling teams out. It is going to be working out how to get to 180 to 220 and then deciding how to get the 10 wickets.

To be honest, the wickets (in the warm-up matches) weren't as conducive as we want to play and so just have to come up with different ways to go about it," said Law.

"We do target 300-plus as we found in New Zealand, that's probably a benchmark score these days in ODIs. Here, we have to lower that target just to make sure we are safe to play better cricket or make better decisions out in the middle and get the job done," said Law.

The Windies, along with Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, had missed out on automatic qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 by finishing outside the top eight on the ICC ODI Rankings at the September 30, 2017, cut-off date.

The four sides have been joined by Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Nepal, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and the United Arab Emirates.

Law, who played one Test and 54 ODIs for Australia from 1994 to 1999, valued the presence of stalwarts like Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Nikita Miller in the side saying it was up to the youngsters to observe and learn from these players.

"You can't buy experience on a shelf. You need guys in these tough conditions to stand up as well and guide the youngsters through the difficult periods. Then it is just up to the younger or less experienced players to listen, heed the advice and carry forward into their game," he said.