Table Toppers Bangladesh Eye Automatic Qualification For 2023 World Cup

Following their massive 88-run victory over Afghanistan in the second ODI of the three-match series, Bangladesh have emerged as a force to reckon with, especially at home, as they now lead the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League (CWCSL) 2020/23 points table, having won 10 out of 14 games so far with plenty of action still to come.

Bangladesh, after winning seven of the eight games they have played at home, have taken their point tally to 100 with a net run rate (NRR) of 0.422. They have gone past England, who currently occupy the second spot with 95 points. Bangladesh have also become the first team to breach the 100-point mark in the CWCSL.

Their only series loss in the Super League has come away from home, where they were swept 3-0 in New Zealand.

On Friday, Bangladesh defeated Afghanistan by 88-runs to taken an unassailable 2-0 series lead at home with Liton Das slamming 136 and Mushfiqur Rahim 86 as the hosts posted a mammoth 307 for the tourists to chase.

Bangladesh's CWCSL 2020/23 journey started with a 3-0 series win over West Indies in January 2021. They dominated the series, with the West Indies failing to cross the 200-run mark in all three games. Their success in the series was due to the batting exploits of Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmud Ullah and all-round showing of Shakib Al Hasan, who returned to ODI cricket after a gap of two years.

They faltered in the first outing away from home, losing 0-3 to New Zealand in March last year. While Bangladesh were beaten convincingly in the opening ODI, they put up a better performance in the second game. However, Tom Latham's century helped the hosts defeat Bangladesh by a massive 164 runs in the final ODI.

But it did not take long for Bangladesh to bounce back, as they registered another series win at home, this time against Sri Lanka.

Mushfiqur Rahim was the architect of their wins in the first two games, with scores of 84 and 125. They tasted defeat in the final ODI, which has been their only loss at home so far in the CWCSL.

The team then thrashed Zimbabwe 3-0 in the away series with Liton Das and Shakib Al Hasan in great form.

With Bangladesh having three more series coming up in the CWCSL cycle -- South Africa (away), Ireland (away) and England (home) -- they have placed themselves in a strong position to qualify automatically for the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India.

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Apart from India, who qualify for the World Cup as hosts, the top seven teams from the CWCSL will qualify directly for the tournament while the remaining teams will have to go through Qualifier tournaments to book a spot in the final group stages.