COLOMBO: Sri Lanka have failed to secure a direct qualification for the 2019 World Cup after losing four consecutive One-day Internationals to India.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said after Thursday night’s fourth match that Sri Lanka, the 1996 World Cup champions, had needed two wins in the ongoing five-match ODI series against India to be sure of a World Cup spot. Tournament hosts England plus the top seven ranked teams as of Sept 30 qualify automatically for the quadrennial event.

Sri Lanka will now have to see how West Indies perform in a one-off ODI against Ireland and five ODIs against England.

As of now, the West Indies must lose at least one of those six ODIs for Sri Lanka to avoid having to enter a qualifying round for the World Cup.

The West Indies’ target will be slightly easier if Sri Lanka lose the series 5-0 to India. In that scenario, West Indies could go through ahead of Sri Lanka by beating Ireland and winning the England series 4-1.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2017