File Picture: Etienne Rothbart.
Cape Town — The Proteas Men’s team have a chequered history in regards to rain at World Cups, but it finally worked in their favour on Tuesday when it secured their automatic qualification for the showpiece in India later this year.
The first ODI between Ireland and Bangladesh was washed out in Chelmsford, Essex which meant the Irish could no longer surpass the Proteas on the ICC Super League table.
Temba Bavuma’s team had faced an anxious wait after completing their ICC Super League fixtures in March with a 2-0 series win over the Netherlands that pushed the Proteas up to 98 points.
This left the Proteas in eighth position on the table – the final automatic World Cup spot – but they then had to wait on the result of the Ireland and Bangladesh series.
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Ireland had an opportunity to pass the Proteas if they were able to sweep Bangladesh 3-0.
However, despite moving the series to Essex in England in the hope of good weather to complete the series without any interruptions, the first match of the series was abandoned with Ireland on 65/3 after 16.3 overs in pursuit of Bangladesh’s 246/9.
SOUTH AFRICA QUALIFY FOR THE MEN'S ODI WORLD CUP! 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 9, 2023
A washout in Ireland's 1st ODI against Bangladesh means the Proteas take the final automatic spot at #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/Swd5yJdQPX
Ireland are, however, guaranteed a ninth-place finish, though, and will compete in the 10-team qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe, which runs from June 18 to July 9, and also includes former world champions West Indies and Sri Lanka.
Cricket SA recently confirmed a five-match One-Day International series against Australia in September on home soil to help prepare the Proteas for the World Cup in October.
It will form part of eight-match white-ball tour by the Aussies to South Africa with three T20 Internationals in Durban preceding the five ODIs.