Bready, Aug. 6 -- Ireland's hopes of securing direct qualification for the 2027 ICC Men's ODI World Cup came to an end after the opening ODI against Afghanistan was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to persistent rain in Bready.

According to Cricinfo, the washout ruled out Ireland's slim mathematical chance of climbing into the automatic qualification places in the ICC men's ODI rankings before the September 30, 2026 cut-off date.

Ranked 12th in the ODI standings, Ireland needed to complete an unlikely 5-0 series whitewash over Afghanistan, while also relying on West Indies to lose both of their remaining ODIs against India, to leapfrog Afghanistan, West Indies and Zimbabwe in the rankings and seal direct qualification for the 2...