Sri Lanka’s hopes of securing automatic qualification for the World Cup took a major blow on Tuesday when heavy rain and gusting winds forced the second ODI against New Zealand to be abandoned without a ball being bowled. 

Steady rain meant the covers stayed on all day at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch, with organisers calling the match off at 16:30 local time (09:00 IST) with more showers forecast. As a result the two teams split the points which further damages Sri Lanka’s hopes of automatically qualifying for the World Cup in India in October-November.