Sri Lanka’s five-wicket loss against New Zealand has brightened Bangladesh’s chances of finishing the World Cup within the top eight teams after the end of the group stage and qualify for the Champions Trophy in 2025 in Pakistan.
After Bangladesh won against Sri Lanka by three wickets in New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium Monday, the Tigers had leapfrogged the Lankans to eighth position with a better net run rate.
Sri Lanka Thursday had the opportunity to go seventh in their last game against New Zealand at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru but lost out, scoring only 171 runs and eventually the Kiwis reached the target losing five wickets in just 23.2 overs.
The result took them to 10 points, and a net run rate of 0.743, leaving Pakistan needing to beat England by 287 runs, while Afghanistan require an even more fantastical 438-run win over South Africa, if they are to surpass New Zealand's tally.
At the moment, Bangladesh are still eighth with a net run rate of -1.142 while Sri Lanka are ninth with -1.419.
Bangladesh will face Australia in their last clash of the group stage Saturday and there are a few conditions for the Tigers to remain in eight position and qualify for the Champions Trophy and they are:
First, Bangladesh have to win against Australia and with six points they will clearly secure a position of either seven or eight in the points table to qualify.
Second, even if Bangladesh concede defeat against Australia, they have to ensure that they do not lose by a bigger margin (not more than 176 runs or 28 overs to spare margins) than the Lankans lost against the Kiwis.
And the Netherlands have a match in hand against hosts India and if the Dutch prevail over the hosts, then they will have six points and subsequently advance to the Champions Trophy.
So to put it in a nutshell, Bangladesh have to emerge victorious against Australia, or lose by a lesser margin than Sri Lanka against New Zealand and also hope the Netherlands suffer a defeat against India to finish within eight in the points table and qualify for the mega event.
Bangladesh had a full practice session at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune as Shakib al Hasan’s replacement Anamul Haque Bijoy joined the team and trained with the squad.
Opener Liton Das, who took a short leave, also joined the squad Wednesday evening.
