Impossible task for Lanka (28 May 1999)

LEICESTER, Thursday - World Cup holders Sri Lanka effectively out of the '99 tournament will have to await the completion of matches by India and Zimbabwe to know what sort of total they should make in their final Group 'A' game against Kenya on

28-May-1999

28 May 1999

Impossible task for Lanka

Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Both India and Zimbabwe play on Saturday. India meet England at Edgbaston and Zimbabwe take on South Africa at Chelmsford. A win for either India or Zimbabwe will definitely put Sri Lanka out of the contest.

If both teams lose, Sri Lanka will go into the match against Kenya not only having to win, but also to improve their net run rate vastly. They may have to make something like over 700 runs to beat the nett run rate of India to qualify, a task wholly impracticable.

The tournament rules say: "In the event of teams finishing on equal points in either Group, the right to play in the Super Six stage will be will decided in the following order of priority:

The most wins in the Group Matches;

When two teams have both equal points and equal wins, the team which was the winner of the Group Match played between them will be placed in the higher position. When more than two teams have equal points and equal wins, the team which was the winner of the most number of matches played between those teams will be placed in the higher position.

If still, equal, the team with the higher net run rate in the Group Matches will be placed in the higher position (excludes matches when the Duckworth/Lewis method is used)... Sri Lankan batsmen have made only 728 runs as opposed to the 976 runs conceded by their bowlers, which means the deficit is already 248 runs. Taking into account the runs Kenya will score against them, the runs conceded is definitely going to increase. Even if Sri Lanka make up the deficit, it would only be just enough to get their net run rate into the plus factor from the negative. But from their onwards they will have to pile on the runs to catch up with India's nett run rate which at present stands at a healthy +1.29.

Source :: The Daily News (https://www.lanka.net/lakehouse/)