SL vs IND: Upul Tharanga-led Sri Lanka need two victories against Virat Kohli and Co for direct World Cup entry

Reuters

New Delhi: After a humiliating 3-0 whitewash at home in the recently concluded Test series, all Sri Lanka can aim for is a redemption in the one-day international series that starts tomorrow at Dambulla. But it seems that victory in the ODI series will hold of much importance to the hosts. If they can scalp at least two wins over Virat Kohli-led Team India, they would secure a direct entry in the 2019 cricket World Cup.

Upul Tharanga's side are currently at eight on the ODI rankings chart, having just 4,760 points and a rating of 88. They lie 10 points above West Indies and six behind Bangladesh, in terms of ratings. If they want to secure a direct qualification for the 2019 cricket World Cup, the Islanders have to win two matches in the five-match ODI series, which would eventually push their ratings to 90

Windies, who are ranked ninth, can at the most reach 88 if they win all of their remaining six ODI matches – a five-match series against England, right after the conclusion of the Test series and then a one-off against Ireland on September 13 at Stormont.

Rules speak, September 30 is the deadline for the qualification. The top seven teams will get an automatic qualification, including the hosts England.

What happens if Sri Lanka can manage just a single win? West Indies would have a clear chance to surpass the former World Champions, provided they manage a victory in all of their six ODI matches. However, if they face yet another whitewash by Virat Kohli's side then they can only hope for a Windies defeat in at least one of their fixtures.

Do things lie in favour of the Lankans ahead of the ODI series? The hosts have lost seven out of their 10 ODI matches on home soil which also includes the humiliating 2-3 loss to minnows Zimbabwe, last month.

Talking about their opponents India, they had cleansweeped the Islanders 5-0, back in 2014 and above all the Lankans had bowed out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in England following another dismal performance from the side. The tourists, in fact, has been rather ravishing in the shorter-format as the Men in Blue had reached the Champions Trophy final and then had crumbled down a jaded Windies side 3-1 in an ODI series in July.