New Zealand thrashed Sri Lanka by six wickets in the third ODI between the two sides in Hamilton on Friday, March 31, to effectively end the Lankan team's chances of directly qualifying for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. This is the first time in 44 years that the country will be playing the World Cup qualifiers, having done so last in 1979.
The Kiwis were given a subpar total of 158 to chase down but lost two wickets in the second over. However, they weathered the blues courtesy of an unbeaten 86 by batter Will Young and a 44-run knock by Henry Nicholls. They secured a casual six-wicket victory with 103 balls to spare.
It was Sri Lanka who won the toss and chose to bat first, but the decision seemingly backfired after yet another batting collapse. Only opener Pathum Nissanka (57), skipper Dasun Shanaka (31) and Chamika Karunaratne (24) made notable contributions, while Matt Henry, Henry Shipley, and Daryl Mitchell took three wickets each.
Six teams — including hosts India — have already secured their place in the ODI World Cup, which will take place in October-November of 2023. The West Indies are currently holding the final automatic qualification spot in the Super League standings, while South Africa and Ireland are also candidates for the tournament. Sri Lanka will now compete in a 10-team qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in June and July.
The World Cup winners in 1996 were given five points for the cancelled second ODI and they were also docked a point for maintaining a slow over-rate during their 198-run defeat in the opener.
This is also not the only blow that New Zealand have landed on the country heading into this tournament. The side also lost the preceding Test series 2-0, which was a very close loss in the first match effectively ending Sri Lanka's chances of reaching the World Test Championship (WTC) final, to be hosted at The Oval from June 7.
The two teams will now face off in three Twenty20 Internationals starting on Sunday in Auckland.
It will also continue the steady decline of the former World Champions, who reached consecutive ODI World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011. More recently, they played the first round of the T20 World Cup in 2021 and 2022.
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