Rain thwarts Sri Lanka’s chances of qualifying for the Cricket World Cup once more
Sri Lanka gained five crucial Super League points when their ODI against New Zealand was called off, but their hopes of direct qualification to the Cricket World Cup 2023 remain teetering.
The unpredictable weather in New Zealand has once again cost Sri Lanka, as the second ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League ODI between the two sides was called off without a ball being bowled.
The disappointing result in the second One-Day International of the series has left Sri Lanka’s direct qualification hopes for this year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup hanging by a thread with one match remaining.
Rain robbed Sri Lanka of valuable time on the fifth and final day of a thrilling Test match against the Kiwis earlier this month, and the skies above New Zealand’s third largest city again played spoilsport on Tuesday, with no play at Hagley Oval.
It meant that Sri Lanka missed out on a chance to strengthen their chances of qualifying directly for this year’s Cricket World Cup and will now have to qualify through the Qualifier tournament, which will be held in Zimbabwe in June and July.
Sri Lanka only has one match left in the Super League, with the third and final ODI against New Zealand in Hamilton on Friday their last chance to leapfrog the West Indies and into a crucial top-eight spot to qualify automatically for this year’s tournament.
Even if Sri Lanka wins the final ODI against New Zealand to earn an extra 10 Super League points and move up to eighth place in the standings, they may be forced to compete in the Zimbabwe Qualifier because 10th-placed South Africa has enough matches in hand to overtake them.
South Africa has two matches remaining in their postponed ODI series against the Netherlands, and a win in both of those matches would move the Proteas ahead of both Sri Lanka and the West Indies and into the crucial eighth position.
Eleventh-placed Ireland may also qualify automatically if they play three more matches against Bangladesh in May.
New Zealand currently leads the Super League standings with 165 points and has one match remaining in the series.
