Scenarios for Sri Lanka to secure direct qualification for the World Cup 2019

Sri Lankan Cricket is currently going through a turmoil in all the formats of the game. They were handed a shameful defeat by the lower ranked Zimbabwe in a five-match ODI series last month. Coming onto face the Indians in the recently concluded Test series, they were absolutely crushed by the visitors. India not only won the series but performed a whitewash over the hosts which marked their first, away from home.

The main story:

As we slowly inch closer to the 2019 ICC World Cup, Sri Lanka find themselves toiling at the 8th position in the one Day International rankings. in order to make a direct entry into the biggest cricketing event, they will have to win at least 2 ODI matches in the 5 match series that is all set to commence from the 20th of August.

Sri Lanka currently have 88 points to their name and winning two ODIs against will see them reach the 90 point mark. In that case, they will be out of the reach of the 9th place West Indies who are currently placed at 9 with 78 points. Even if West Indies win their 6 ODIs (one against Ireland, 5 against England) they will move to 88 points before the September 30 cutoff. According to the rule, the top 7 sides along with hosts England will secure direct qualification.

If Sri Lanka manages to win a single game against India, West Indies have a chance to go past them in decimal points provided they win all their 6 ODIs. If the Windies fail to grab a victory over Ireland, Sri Lanka will earn direct qualification even on getting whitewashed by the Indians.

Sri Lanka is in a state of bother at the moment as they have lost 7 of their last 10 One Day Internationals at home. However, the West Indies are not in a good shape either with their run rate in ODIs in the last 5 years is 5.10 which is better than Ireland, Zimbabwe, and Afghanistan only.