Sri Lanka dicing with weather to keep semi-final hopes alive

Sri Lanka’s semi-final hopes rests on thin ice

• To take on Afghanistan in must-win game today

BRISBANE: Sri Lanka are dicing with the weather to keep their slim hopes of qualifying for the T20 World Cup semi-finals alive when they take on Afghanistan in a must win game at the Brisbane Cricket Ground more commonly known as The Gabba today.

The forecast is for rain and if by some chance the match ends in a no-result and the points are shared, it will make Sri Lanka’s task that much harder to qualify. As it is, Sri Lanka sit on two points after three matches with one win and two losses and a minus net run rate. 

They not only need to beat Afghanistan but they need to do so by a big margin to overturn the run rate into a positive one.

Even if they achieve that, they still have to beat England in their final group match on 5 November at Sydney and hope that other results in the group work out in their favour. The maximum points Sri Lanka can gain if they win their remaining two group games is six, which may or may not be sufficient to guarantee them a place in the semi-finals.  

Let’s take a look at the scenario that faces Sri Lanka in the group.

New Zealand are virtually with one foot on the semi-finals slot already with five points and a staggering net run rate. 

They have only to win one of their remaining two matches against either England or Ireland to guarantee their place in the semi-final. If they win both their remaining games New Zealand will top the table.

Defending champions Australia (5 points) have completed their toughest matches and have the easiest of tasks. They beat Ireland by 42 runs yesterday, and take on Afghanistan in their final match. If they win, it would bring their total number of points to seven and cause a possible three-way tie with New Zealand and England for the top two places. Net run rate will then play a big role.

If England (currently 3 points) win their remaining two games against New Zealand and Sri Lanka they will get a maximum of seven points, and may tie on points with New Zealand and Australia, if New Zealand lose one of their remaining two games.

Following their loss to Australia, Ireland (3 points) from four matches need to beat table leaders New Zealand in their final game to be in contention.

Afghanistan (2 points) is in the same position as Sri Lanka. The maximum points they can gain if they win their remaining two matches against Sri Lanka and Australia is six. So like Sri Lanka their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage depend on how the other teams fare. 

“We can’t control the situation of having to depend on how other teams fare to guarantee our semi-final place, we want to win tomorrow’s (Tuesday) game that’s all what we are thinking,” said Sri Lanka seamer Kasun Rajitha at the pre-match media conference.

“We were unlucky against New Zealand. They did very well. We are mentally okay. We need to do our basics right and hope to bounce back well. We know the Afghanistan match is important for us. We are trying to do our best. We know we need to win it.”