QUALIFICATION SCENARIO
Follow UsSri Lanka’s match against Nepal at Lauderhill, Florida, was washed out on June 11 (Tuesday) due to a heavy barrage of rain through the day, and while it reduced to a drizzle, the wet outfield would not have allowed a huge chunk of the match to happen. It is understood that the groundmen would have needed about 90 minutes to ensure that they can have the ground game-ready once the rain stopped.
However, there was never a period where in the umpires even considered having a toss, given the conditions.
“A trough over the eastern Gulf of Mexico is expected to produce heavy rains across Florida, and there is a low chance of a tropical depression forming off the U.S. Southeast Coast later this week,” the National Hurricane Center reported.
Lauderhill is set to host four matches till June 16. According to various reports, all the matches here could be washed out, leaving the fate of plenty of teams in jeopardy. One of those teams is Sri Lanka, who already have one foot out of the T20 World Cup 2024.
The 2014 champions are still mathematically in it…just about. They could officially be out of the tournament even before they take field next. They are due to play the Netherlands on June 16 (Sunday) in St Lucia, but three days before that on June 13 (Thursday), the Dutch will take on Bangladesh in St Vincent. If that game does not get washed out, Sri Lanka will be out of the tournament, as one team would make it to four points. The maximum Sri Lanka can get from here is only three points.
According to the weather forecast, no rain is expected in Kingstown, St Vincent at least for the next five days, meaning this could very well be the end of the road for Sri Lanka. They were bundled out for 77 in the tournament opener against South Africa and then crumbled against Bangladesh in the next game to go down by two wickets.
South Africa through
Meanwhile, with the Sri Lanka-Nepal game washed out, South Africa become the first team to qualify for the Super Eights, having won all their three games so far. The tussle now will be between Bangladesh and the Netherlands and the winner of the duel on Thursday could very well determine which one of them would join the Proteas in the next round.
South Africa have played all their three games so far in New York. They started the tournament off with a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka and followed that up with a couple of close wins over the Netherlands and Bangladesh respectively. They face Nepal in their final group stage match in St Vincent on June 14 (Friday).
Can Nepal still qualify for Super Eights?
Yes, Nepal are well in with a chance of making it through to the Super Eights. For that to happen, they need to beat South Africa (June 14) and Bangladesh (June 16). If they achieve that, they will go to five points and the results of the other matches will not matter.
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