South Africa face struggle to qualify for Cricket World Cup

There have been agonising near-misses and numerous disappointments - but actually qualifying for the tournament has never previously been an issue. Now, though, South Africa need to find some dramatically improved form or face taking the long road if they want to play in the main event in India in October and November 2023. A home series defeat to Bangladesh has put the Proteas in a precarious position.

They languish ninth on the World Cup Super League log. Only eight teams, including hosts India, qualify automatically. The bottom five teams in the Super League will have to endure a qualifying tournament in June 2023, along with five associate nations, with only two places available for India.

"The alarm bells are there and we're putting ourselves under pressure," said head coach Mark Boucher after Bangladesh clinched a series victory with a nine-wicket win in Centurion on Wednesday. South Africa have only won four of their 13 Super League fixtures - and they have tough three-match series against England, India and Australia to come. They will, however, expect to win two postponed fixtures against the Netherlands, although the first match of a Covid-shortened series in November was rained off.

Boucher said South Africa "went to sleep" against Bangladesh and needed to improve. But he said automatic qualification was not out of reach. "We've beaten the best sides in the world before and we'll have to beat them again to qualify for the World Cup," said Boucher.