Battle of minnows in 2015 World Cup qualifier (Preview)

The ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier beginning in New Zealand Monday sees 10 of the leading Associate and Affiliate sides lock horns for the final two qualification positions at the mega event in 2015.

The four associate ODI sides to be seen in action in New Zealand are Canada, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland.

The Netherlands in 12th spot and Kenya in the 13th are the only two Associate sides ranked on the ICC ODI rankings, while Scotland and Canada are unranked.

The final day of the group stage of the Qualifier will see the four teams play two ODIs, with Scotland and Canada going head to head at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, and the Netherlands taking on Kenya at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln.

In the clash of the top ranked Group B sides, Kenya could move ahead of the Netherlands into 12th place on the ODI rankings table if it beats Peter Borren's side.

Kenya, in this scenario, will gain 11 ratings points to finish on 21 ratings points, while the Netherlands will lose seven ratings points to end on six points.

If the Netherlands were to beat Kenya, there would be no change on the rankings table. The Netherlands would gain six ratings points to end on 19, while Kenya would drop from 10 ratings points to one.

Meanwhile, Kenya's Collins Obuya in 77th position will start the tournament as the highest ranked batsman in the ODI batsmen rankings. Obuya is closely followed by team mate Alex Obanda, who is in 78th place.

The only other batsmen inside the top 100 likely to be in action during the tournament are Eric Szwarczynski in 92nd spot and Kyle Coetzer in 94th.

Outside the top 100, the other batsmen to play the tournament are Wesley Barresi (104th), Peter Borren (105th), Maurice Ouma (116th), Matt Machan (120th) and Stephan Myburgh (126th), Irfan Karim (140th), Rakep Patel (142nd), Richie Berrington (144th) and Jimmy Hansra (145th).

The Netherlands' paceman Mudassar Bukhari in 46th will be the highest ranked bowler in the tournament. The Netherlands has two other bowlers inside the top 100 in Pieter Seelaar (57th) and Peter Borren (61st).

The other bowlers in the top 100 are Majid Haq (49th), Hiren Varaiya (54th), Harvir Baidwan (69th) and Nehemiah Odhiambo (81st).