Sri Lanka fail to seal direct qualification for World CUp

Dubai: Sri Lanka has failed to seal a direct qualification place in the ICC cricket World Cup 2019 in the ongoing ODI series against India after not being able to win two matches.

The 1996 World champions needed two wins in the five- match series to secure a place in the ICC’s pinnacle 50-over event, which will take place from May 30 to July 15 in the United Kingdom. The top seven ODI sides apart from host England as on 30 September qualify directly.

But with India taking a 4-0 lead, Sri Lanka will now have to wait for the West Indies to lose at least one of their upcoming matches to be able to clinch that berth.

If Sri Lanka win the last match of the series on Sunday, they will reach 88 points on the points table but that will not be enough to ensure automatic qualification.

The Windies will be able to overtake Sri Lanka in such a scenario since they can also reach 88 points and edge Sri Lanka on decimal points if they win their upcoming six matches – one against Ireland on 13 September and all ODIs of a five- match series against England.

In case Sri Lanka lose the series 5-0, the Windies will be able to overtake them by beating Ireland and winning either all five matches against England or the last four matches for a 4-1 series win. Teams not getting direct places in the World Cup 2019 will get another shot through a qualifying tournament.