Home
Rain God again played spoilsport in the crucial match between England and Australia in Melbourne on Friday (October 28). Earlier in the day, the Afghanistan vs Ireland match was also washed out due to rain.
England skipper Jos Buttler was understandably left disappointed but insisted that the right call was made as conditions were not fit to take the field.
For England, it was their second successive game that was affected by rain. While not a single ball was bowled on Friday, England had lost to Ireland via DLS method after rain played spoilsport towards the end of the game.
"They (the umpires) had some big concerns and, I think, rightly so. The outfield is very wet, there are some areas within the 30-yard circle which were not fit to play. As much as we all want to play cricket, it has to be safe and it certainly wasn't that," said Buttler.
"I think every bowler who bowled there would have had concerns. Player safety is really important and it wasn't fit to play whether it's our bowlers or Australia's bowlers. I think that the right call was made." Even the afternoon game at the MCG between Afghanistan and Ireland was rained out.
Melbourne has been experiencing unusual rains at this time of the year though cricket season in Australia starts from November.
Asked about rain making their road to the semifinals tougher, Buttler said: "I don't really have any frustrations. I am not a weather expert in Australia at this time of the year, but we all want to play full games of cricket. Of course we do. "Naturally we play a sport which is in the open air and the elements are a huge part of our game. They affect the surfaces we play on, they affect conditions in an intriguing way, and that's what makes our sport really unique.
"But now, unfortunately, we've had two games affected by the weather. You don't want to be involved in those games, but it's going to happen wherever you play in the world."
Group 1 qualification scenario In T20 World Cup 2022 explained:
Group 1 remains wide open for any of the six teams to qualify. However, the hosts Australia, are in for a tricky period because of their Net Run Rate.
As things stand, Australia have the worst net Run Rate of all in the Group 1, courtesy of their horrific defeat to New Zealand in the opener. In 3 matches, Australia have 1 win, 1 loss and 1 No-result.
New Zealand and England, the two favourites to go through at the moment, have a pretty healthy NRR of +4.450 and +0.239 respectively.
In terms of points, there's barely any difference between the 6 teams. New Zealand, England, Australia and Ireland sit on 3 points each while Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have earned 2 points each so far.
Group 1 Remaining Fixtures
New Zealand: Sri Laka, England and Ireland
England: New Zealand and Sri Lanka
Australia: Ireland and Afghanistan
Ireland: Australia and New Zealand
Sri Lanka: New Zealand, Afghanistan and England
Afghanistan: Sri Lanka and Australia
Who are the favourites to qualify?
New Zealand are the absolute favourites to go through, courtesy of their extremely healthy Net Run Rate.
Even If Australia win their remaining two matches, they might not be able to go through to the semi-finals. The Aussies, however, will have a bigger chance of qualification if New Zealand win all of their remaining matches, especially the one against England.
For England, victories in the remaining two matches are likely to be enough for them to qualify. But, Sri Lanka does have a better NRR than England at this point in time. If Sri Lanka win 2 of their remaining three matches, they might just pip England for a spot in the semi-finals because of superior Net Run Rate.
For Ireland and Afghanistan, qualification seems a lot more tricky, both because of their remaining fixtures and NRR.
