The Friday's first ODI between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Colombo is the start of the final battle among sides to avoid playing in the preliminary round of the ICC Champions Trophy, later this year in India.
Sides in positions seven to ten in the LG ICC ODI Championship table on April 1, will face that fate and at the moment Sri Lanka, along with the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are the teams occupying those slots.
Sri Lanka can overtake sixth-placed England with a 2-1 series win over Pakistan but even then they could still slip back to seventh spot if England win at least one of their two matches against India that will take place before the April1, cut-off date.
A 3-0 series win for Sri Lanka will guarantee them a top six place but that result would also bring Pakistan into the equation as they could find themselves seventh if England win one of those two clashes against India.
If Inzamamul Haq's side beat their hosts 2-1 then Sri Lanka will drop to 106 rating points and will need to rely on India winning both of the March matches against England to jump back to sixth spot.
And in a further potential scenario, a 3-0 win for Pakistan will condemn Sri Lanka to the preliminary round no matter what happens in the India-England matches.
It all emphasises just how tight the middle section of the LG ICC ODI Championship table is with just six rating points (equivalent to approximately three victories) separating third-placed New Zealand (113) and Sri Lanka (107).
Neither Sri Lanka nor Pakistan have been in spectacular ODI form lately which makes the result of their upcoming series especially hard to predict.
Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh 2-1 in their most recent action in this form of the game while Pakistan lost 4-1 in a series against India last month.
Sri Lanka have the highest-ranked batsman and bowler in the LG ICC Player Rankings with Kumar Sangakkara in fifth spot among the batsmen while Muttiah Muralidaran, who missed the ODI series in Bangladesh, is seventh in the bowling list.
Only three other batsmen on either side have places in the top 20 - Pakistan's Mohammed Yousuf (13th) and Inzamam (18th), together with Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu (joint 20 th), another player who was rested for the series in Bangladesh.
Among the bowlers, apart from Muralidaran, each side has one representative in the top 20 - Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas (7 th) and Naved-ul-Hasan of Pakistan (11th), although Vaas is reportedly set to miss the first match on Friday with a shoulder injury.
Also likely to be absent from that first clash is Sri Lanka's veteran all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya, suffering with a thigh injury. Jayasuriya lies joint 22 nd in the batting list, is eighth in the all-rounder table and his absence, together with Vaas, creates a big hole for the home side to fill.
While the race for sixth spot hots up in Colombo, Bangladesh and Kenya will do battle in a four-match series that also starts on Friday with - potentially - a place in the ICC Champions Trophy up for grabs.
Kenya are yet to play the minimum number of matches required to earn themselves a place on the LG ICC ODI Championship table - that number will be determined at next week's ICC Executive Board meeting in Dubai - but if it is decided it should be eight then their four matches in Bangladesh will take them over that threshold.
If that is the case then Kenya could qualify for the Champions Trophy ahead of Bangladesh unless the home side wins their series by at least two clear matches (for example, by 3-1).
The schedule for the Sri Lanka - Pakistan ODI series is as follows:
March 17: first ODI, R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
March 19: second ODI, R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
March 21: third ODI, Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo
India, as hosts, will automatically qualify for the second stage of next year's ICC Champions Trophy even if they are outside the top six of the LG ICC ODI Championship table on April 1, 2006. If they are outside that top six then the sixth-placed side in the table will take part in the preliminary round.
LG ICC ODI Championship ahead of the Sri Lanka - Pakistan & Bangladesh - Kenya series
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Position Team Rating
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1 Australia 132
2 South Africa 119
3 New Zealand 113
4 India 113
5 Pakistan 112
6 England 108
7 Sri Lanka 107
8 West Indies 89
9 Zimbabwe 42
10 Bangladesh 17
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