After the second ODI against England in Bloemfontein, South Africa’s push for automatic qualification to the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup in India received a significant boost.
South Africa gained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the bilateral series against England on Sunday thanks to a century from skipper Temba Bavuma.
An unbeaten 65-run stand between David Miller and Marco Jansen followed Bavuma’s second ODI century.
South Africa recorded a stunning win to boost its chances of automatic qualification to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
Withdrawing from an ODI series in Australia earlier this year hurt South Africa’s chances of qualifying directly, but back-to-back wins have given them hope of avoiding the Zimbabwe qualifiers.
With these two wins, they have 79 points from 18 completed ODIs in the Cricket World Cup Super League, leapfrogging Ireland and Sri Lanka.
Only the top eight teams make it to the tournament later this year, so they remain at No.9.
They are able to move up the table because West Indies, who are placed ahead of them, have completed their Super League fixtures.
A win would move the Proteas past the West Indies in the standings. The Proteas have one more match against England before playing two games against the Netherlands at the end of March and beginning of April.
In March, Sri Lanka play three ODIs against New Zealand in New Zealand and are currently on 77 points.
South Africa are assured of automatic qualification if they win all three ODIs against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka can accumulate 107 points if they win all three ODIs against the Kiwis.
With both teams set to play three remaining matches in the Super League, all they have to do is win as many ODIs as Sri Lanka in the next two months.