Sri Lanka on the brink of failing to gain automatic qualification

Will it be another qualifying tournament for Sri Lanka in the 2024 World Cup?

• Afghanistan seal spot for next World Cup

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

As fate would have it, Sri Lanka, badly in need of points to gain automatic qualification for the 2024 Cricket World Cup in India, had to be content with just five points instead of 10 when the second ODI against Afghanistan played at Pallekele International Stadium on Sunday ended in a no-result with rain having the final say.

Having lost the first match of the three-match series, Sri Lanka had done well to dismiss Afghanistan for 228 and were confidently looking to challenge that total when the heavens opened out to their dismay and washed-out play after just 16 balls into their innings.

The best that Sri Lanka can now hope for is to win the third and final ODI at the same venue tomorrow and pick that vital 10 points. They then have a tough task of trying to beat New Zealand in their backyard in three ODIs commencing in March, which is not an easy thing to do as India are currently finding it.

The way things stand at the moment, Sri Lanka need to win at least three games out of their remaining four to have any chance. If they can achieve that, they will displace West Indies from eighth spot which they occupy at present. West Indies became the first team to complete all their Super League matches and have 88 points from 24 matches. Sri Lanka currently occupy 10th position with 67 points.

The West Indies’ 88 points is the bench mark now for a team to finish eighth and seal the final automatic spot and avoid the qualifiers.

The teams in contention for the much sought-after eighth spot apart from Sri Lanka and West Indies, are Ireland and South Africa. 

Ireland are currently ninth with 68 points from 21 games. They have only three more matches against Bangladesh in May 2023 to wind up their fixtures. They need to win by 3-0 at home to have decent opportunity or at least win 2-1 to tie with West Indies at 88 points.

South Africa occupy eleventh position with 59 points from 16 games. They are likely to forfeit points from their three matches against Australia due to issues with domestic scheduling, which leaves them with two ODIs at home against Netherlands, and three each against India (away) and England (home). South Africa needs to win at least four matches out of the remaining eight to have a chance and six wins to be comfortable. 

West Indies who have completed all their matches rest their hopes that Sri Lanka loses four out of their six games, Ireland lose two out of three and South Africa lose at least five out of their remaining games for them to have a chance.

Afghanistan on the other hand have, with their win in the first ODI and No Result in the second against Sri Lanka, collected 15 points and occupy seventh position with 115 points from 14 matches. They have a further 10 more matches to play and have virtually sealed their place automatically for the next World Cup.  

The ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, a brand new ODI competition was introduced in July 2020 and will run till May 2023 with the aim of raising the stakes of bilateral 50-over matches. Currently in its first edition, the Super League will help determine qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. 

13 teams are taking part – 12 full members along with the Netherlands who earned their place as the 13th team by winning the ICC World Cricket League Championship way back in 2017. Each team in the Super League plays three ODIs against eight other teams. Four of these are home series and four are away series, which means that each team plays a total of 24 ODIs that will earn them points on the RoadTo2023.