Sri Lanka and West Indies failed to secure direct qualification for the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. The development comes following closure of Group 1 games on Saturday evening in Abu Dhabi.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 is nearing its business end with just three games left in the Super 12 stage. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has now announced which eight teams have secured direct qualification for the 2022 edition.
A report was posted on the official website of the T20 World Cup. According to that, eight teams from the Super 12s from the ongoing edition will qualify for the Super 12s next edition. These eight teams would include the winner and runner-up of the 2021 T20 World Cup. It will also include six other teams based on their ICC Men’s T20I ranking as of the 15th of November.
It has been announced that those eight teams are hosts Australia, England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
According to the same report, West Indies’ loss to Australia on Saturday confirmed that they would finish 10th in the rankings as on the aforementioned date. This also means that Bangladesh will rise to 8th position in the rankings. Thus, they secured direct entry into the Super 12s of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
West Indies entered the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 as the defending champions. However, they could only muster a solitary win out of five games, finishing fifth in Group 1 above Bangladesh.
Despite losing all of their five games in the Super 12, Bangladesh have secured direct qualification to the Super 12 stage of the next edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia.
Bangladesh’s recently won home series over Australia and New Zealand. These wins have done enough to ensure they rise to number 8 in the Men’s T20I rankings by the 15th of November. Thus, they will start directly in the Super 12s next year despite losing all of their games at the same stage in the ongoing competition.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, came into the T20 World Cup having to play the first round to secure a spot in the Super 12s. Three consecutive victories in the first round saw them make it through to the next stage.
However, with just two wins out of five in the Super 12, they could not make further progress. They finished fourth in Group 1 ahead of the West Indies and Bangladesh. This means that they would finish 9th in the Men’s T20I rankings as on November 15. Thus, they will have to play the First Round again in Australia next year.
Along with Sri Lanka and the West Indies, Namibia and Scotland will also play the first round of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.