SL vs NED T20 World Cup 2022: Can Sri Lanka qualify for Super 12 stage despite loss to Netherlands? Check here

Asia Cup 2022 champions Sri Lanka are on the cusp on elimination from T20 World Cup 2022. In the penultimate battle in Group A, Sri Lanka take on Netherlands on Octoner 20 (Thursday) and the loser here will pack their bags and go home. Well, almost. We will talk about qualifications scenarios further. But let's first take a look at journeys of two teams. Sri Lankans, led by Dasun Shanaka were high on confidence, coming into the World Cup. They had recently won the Asia Cup to surprise everyone and many good things were expected of them. It seemed they will steamroll the associate countries in their group but it was not to be. They lost to Namibia by a good margin in their opening match of T20 World Cup. They made a superb comeback by thrashing UAE. And now they need to beat Netherlands to qualify for Super 12 stage. 

On the other hand, Netherlands have won both of their matches so far in the tournament but they too face the heat. If they lose tomorrow, their qualification hopes would almost be over. 

A dominating win! Sri Lanka beat UAE by 79 runs. _#SLvUAE #RoaringForGlory #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/yF5GsKOfuQ

— Sri Lanka Cricket __ (@OfficialSLC) October 18, 2022

What happens if Sri Lanka loses to Netherlands? How can SL qualify to Super 12 stage?

A loss for Sri Lanka against Netherlands will mean their NRR is hit. Netherlands will of course go through with 6 points. The last match of Group A will be between Namibia and UAE. Namibia will get help if either of these 2 teams lose. Namibia have 1 win in 2 matches so far. If Sri Lanka lose to Netherlands, they will then hope that UAE beat Namibia by a big margin. That way, both SL and Namibia will have 1 win each and NRR will decide the second qualifer from this group. 

What happens if Netherlands loses to Sri Lanka? How can NED qualify to Super 12 stage?

If Netherlands lose to Sri Lanka, they would still be virtually in it. Sri Lanka will go through on better NRR as a win will positively impact their NRR ad Netherlands will be negatively impacted. In that case, Netherlands's fate will be dependent on UAE beating Namibia. A loss for Namibia will definitely help Netherlands qualify as they will have a better NRR.