Rain threat looms over the second semi-final T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played between India and England at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. The weather forecast has cast doubts over the game with the capital of Guyana, Georgetown, experiencing heavy rain over the past few days. While there is an uncertainity in the air as far as the weather is concerned, fans have expressed their concern over ICC’s decision of not alotting a reserve day for the high-stakes clash.
Since there’s only a day’s gap between the India-England humdinger in Guyana and the final in Barbados, ICC clarified that the decision was taken keeping in mind that the players get some rest before the summit clash.
“For performance reasons, to ensure teams do not have to ‘play-travel-play’ on consecutive days, the decision was taken to allocate the additional time for the second semi-final immediately post the game because the game is a 10.30am start, whilst the first semi-final is an evening start, which means it is not feasible to play all additional time on the same day,” a spokesperson from ICC had told ESPNcricinfo.
While there is no reserve day for the match, extra 250 minutes have been alotted to complete the match, if rain does show up.
Since it’s a day game as per local time (10:30 AM start), the cut off time for a 10-overs-a-side game is 1.44 am IST (4:14 AM local time).
Meanwhile, India will look to avenge the 10-wicket drubbing against the Jos Buttler-led side in the semifinal of the 2022 edition.
India have won every game they’ve been able to compete in, with the only dropped points coming from the abandoned fixture against Canada at a rain-soaked Lauderhill.
England, on the other hand, has had a hot-and-cold campaign, with impressive wins and unexpected losses, and has fought tooth and nail to qualify for the semifinals.
(With IANS Inputs)
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