SL lose to NZ by six wickets, out of contention for direct qualification spot for World Cup

Sri Lanka will miss out on automatic qualification to this year’s Cricket World Cup, after losing the third ODI to New Zealand by six wickets.

Sri Lanka’s extremely slim chances of clinching the final automatic qualification spot hinged on them beating New Zealand today, South Africa losing both their ODIs to the Netherlands and Bangladesh beating Ireland in one of their three ODIs. 

The six-wicket defeat however means the door is now shut on Sri Lanka, and they will need to go through a qualification tournament for the very first time to play in cricket’s showpiece event.