Sri Lanka will take the field "under protest" for their crunch World Cup Group B match against South Africa on Monday after their appeal for a review of Super Six qualification conditions was turned down.
Sri Lanka's complaint stems from their 53-run loss to Kenya in Nairobi last week, which has adversely affected their net run-rate.
New Zealand forfeited their Nairobi fixture against the Kenyans because of security concerns. The match was deemed lost and the points awarded to Kenya, but New Zealand's net run-rate was unaffected.
Qualification from Group B is likely to come down to net run-rate, hence the Sri Lankans' application to the Event Technical Committee (ETC) to have the interpretation of the playing conditions reviewed.
"The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), the Team Management in South Africa and indeed the team itself, are extremely perturbed and disappointed at the interpretation that has been placed by your committee at this 11th hour.....," the BCCSL said in a statement on Monday.
"The alleged 'clarification' is particularly disadvantageous to the Sri Lankan team and is indeed unfair and we feel that it is an attempt to keep the Sri Lanka team away from the Super Six stage."
The statement implied that Sri Lanka had considered a boycott of the South Africa game.
".....it would have been advantageous for the Sri Lanka team too to forfeit the match that is to be played against South Africa in a short while, but we are refraining from doing so as we wish to maintain the 'spirit of the game' and play the game with a straight bat.
"Our team will thus take the field today under protest due to the sudden and unfair change (by way of an alleged interpretation/clarification) of the relevant rules made by the ETC midway through the World Cup."
Sri Lanka can avoid any further qualification controversy by beating South Africa, which would mean they finish top of Group B. The hosts, however, must also win the game to advance to the Super Sixes.
