Ireland-Bangladesh first ODI washout gives South Africa direct qualification ticket to World Cup

Chelmsford: The first ODI between Ireland and Bangladesh in Chelmsford was abandoned after persistent rain on Tuesday evening, helping South Africa clinch the last automatic qualification ticket for the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup, to be held in India in October-November.

Even if Ireland win the ODI series against Bangladesh, they now cannot go past South Africa eighth place standing in the ODI Super League points table. Ireland will now participate in the ten-team ODI World Cup qualifying tournament, set to run from June 18 to July 9 in Zimbabwe, with former winners West Indies and Sri Lanka also playing in the competition.

South Africa had given themselves every chance of qualifying automatically for this year’s ODI World Cup with the series over the Netherlands past the West Indies and into the eighth and final spot on the Super League standings.

But their chances for automatic qualification still hinged on Ireland’s ODIs against Bangladesh. A 3-0 series victory for Ireland would have brought them level on points with South Africa, assuming they incurred no penalty points.

The net run rate would still have come into play to decide the final spot, but with Ireland’s first ODI against Bangladesh abandoned, this is no longer a worry for the Proteas, who have now booked their spot for the ODI World Cup.

Also joining Ireland in the qualifying tournament will be Zimbabwe and Netherlands, who finished at the bottom of the Super League table. Scotland, Oman and Nepal finished in the top three of League 2 and booked their place in the World Cup Qualifier.

Nepal finished top three in dramatic fashion, winning 11 of their last 12 matches, overtaking Namibia to finish third in an incredible comeback story. After disappointing League 2 campaigns, USA and UAE bounced back in the Qualifier Play-off in April, ensuring their top-two finishes on the penultimate day of the competition.

–IANS