After the first one-day international ended in a washout between Ireland and Bangladesh, South Africa received straight qualifying on Tuesday for the 50-over Cricket World Cup in India later this year.
If Ireland wanted to move up from 11th position in the points standings, they needed to win all three of their games against Bangladesh in a series that was played at Chelmsford, the county seat of Essex, England. Ireland cannot overtake South Africa in the World Cup Super League (WCSL) rankings even if they win the current series 2-0.
SOUTH AFRICA QUALIFY FOR THE MEN'S ODI WORLD CUP! 🇿🇦
A washout in Ireland's 1st ODI against Bangladesh means the Proteas take the final automatic spot at #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/Swd5yJdQPX
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 9, 2023
Ireland will now have to participate in the qualification competition, which will take place in Zimbabwe from June 18 to July 9, along with past winners West Indies and Sri Lanka.
The road to ICC @cricketworldcup 2023 is set 🏆
More ➡️ https://t.co/ZxoRtQRPkK pic.twitter.com/xvuSCCtDVZ
— ICC (@ICC) May 10, 2023
At 4:34 p.m. local time (1534 GMT), terrible lighting and rain stopped play as the Irish were chasing Bangladesh’s 246-9 total made from all 50 overs with a score of 65-3 in the 17th over. Under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern rule for rain-affected games, Ireland’s innings required to have at least 20 overs bowled before a decision could be made about the outcome.
However, the match was abandoned at 1800 GMT because the umpires assessed the pitch to be too wet to resume.
The top eight finishers in the three-year-old WCSL competition receive the first slots in the 10-team World Cup. England, India, New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, the current champions, have already secured their spots.
