Sri Lanka's direct World Cup qualification in doubt
July 11, 2017
KARACHI: Following a 3-2 defeat by Zimbabwe in the five-match ODI series, the Sri Lankan cricket team is now facing a serious danger of being eliminated from the race for direct qualification to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
The latest ICC ODI rankings released at the conclusion of India vs West Indies and Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe series show the gap between 8th placed Sri Lanka and 9th placed Zimbabwe has narrowed to mere 10 points.
Sri Lanka lost 5 rating points after losing three ODIs against Zimbabwe and slipped to 88 points from 93, while West Indies – despite losing the ODI series 3-1 to India – gained one point in the ranking charts.
According to the current Future Tours Program, Sri Lanka will now have the last chance to qualify directly for the World Cup 2019 when it hosts India for a five-match ODI series in August. If Sri Lanka wins two or more matches in this series, then it will qualify automatically for the World Cup, irrespective of how England and the West Indies series pans out.
However, Sri Lanka’s failure to win two matches against India will mean West Indies will still have a chance to avoid featuring in 2019's ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
If India beats Sri Lanka by 4-1, then the West Indies will have to win all five matches against England. But, if India sweeps all five ODIs against Sri Lanka, then the West Indies will need to beat England by 4-0 or better.
Top eight ranked teams will directly qualify for ICC’s pinnacle ODI tournament, which is scheduled to be played in England in 2019.
Pakistan, which was facing an elimination a few months ago, is now secure at 6th place and has booked its berth for the Cricket World Cup after its historic victory in the ICC Champions Trophy.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Hasan Ali has been promoted to 6th position in ICC ODI rankings for the bowlers as Sunil Narine of West Indies has slipped down to places from 5th to 7th in the latest ODI rankings.
In batsmen’s chart, Pakistan’s Babar Azam continues to be at 5th place while Mohammad Hafeez has been placed at 2nd position in all-rounder’s table.
