Sri Lanka and Netherlands secure final 2023 Cricket World Cup places

Sri Lanka and Netherlands secure final 2023 Cricket World Cup places

The 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup is fast approaching, and after a fiercely fought ICC World Cup Qualifier held in Zimbabwe in June and July, we now know the identity of the ten nations that will line up in India later this year.

Sri Lanka and the Netherlands secured the last two positions by making the final of the World Cup Qualifier. And they will now join the eight pre-qualified nations who will battle it out for the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

Neither qualifier is expected to win the 2023 World Cup

Neither Sri Lanka nor the Netherlands are among the favourites to win the 2023 Cricket World Cup. The odds are dominated by hosts India (3.1), along with England (4.2) and Australia (5.0).

Two of the betting favourites, England and Australia, are taking part in the Ashes. Australia currently leads the series and are the betting favourites to win outright. The Aussies started the series at 1.83 with the bookmakers, but in the latest odds on the Ashes, they are now 1.4 to win the Urn in England for the first time since 2001.

Bad timing for the 2023 World Cup Qualifier competition

It was unfortunate for the nations competing in the 2023 World Cup Qualifier competition, but it was somewhat overshadowed by the Ashes series taking place between England and Australia.

The World Cup Qualifier competition was a big event in itself. And it didn’t disappoint, with spectacular action and some huge shocks along the way. The biggest being former two-time World Cup winners, the West Indies, failing to qualify for the event for the first time in their history. And another team who will be missing from the final ten nations taking part in India is Ireland.

Starting with the West Indies, they had a disaster of a tournament. They didn’t even come close to qualifying and ended up finishing fifth in the overall standings. That left this once great cricketing nation behind Sri Lanka (1), Netherlands (2), Scotland (3), and Zimbabwe (4).

Ireland did evenworse, finishing in seventh place. Only Nepal (8), UAE (9), and the USA (10) finished lower than the Irish.

Who are the ten teams who will line up at the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup?

When Sri Lanka and the Netherlands qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup finals, they joined eight already pre-qualified nations.

India qualified automatically as the hosts. They will be joined by Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa. These seven nations all confirmed their places by finishing inside the automatic qualifying places in the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League.

Can favourite India win the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup?

India will start the 2023 Cricket World Cup as the favourites, but they will be under huge pressure to replicate their win on home soil in 2011.

India cricket fans can take heart. The hosts arguably have the biggest and best pool of players of any nation to pick from. If the team can perform to its potential, then it’s going to take something special to stop them from winning a third ICC Cricket World Cup.