Providence [Guyana]: With rain looming over the Providence Stadium in Guyana, Rohit Sharma-led Team India seeks to overcome Jos Buttler's England in their ICC T20 World Cup semi-final clash. However, the weather threatens to disrupt this highly anticipated rematch of the 2022 tournament final.
Earlier today, rain swept through Guyana, casting uncertainty over the crucial match scheduled for Thursday.
If rain interrupts play, India, having topped the Super Eights group, would advance to the final, while defending champions England would face elimination.
The match-up highlights a battle of T20I titans, with England aiming for a second successive T20 World Cup final and India seeking redemption for their previous defeat. The Men in Blue seek to avenge a brutal 10-wicket loss to the same opponent in the 2022 tournament's final four clash at Adelaide.
The semi-final promises a showdown between two formidable opening pairs: India's 'Ro-Ko' duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli versus England's Jos Buttler (191 runs in six innings) and Phil Salt (183 runs in six innings).
However, the pressure of playing in knockouts becomes a different kind of challenge for India, who have fallen short of an ICC trophy nearly every year after semifinal/final qualifications.
According to ESPNcricinfo, as per an ICC spokesperson, overs will only be reduced starting at 2:40 PM, 250 minutes after the scheduled start at 10:30 am. For a 10-over match, the game must start by 4:14 PM local time, the spokesperson added, as per ESPNCricinfo.
According to World Weather, it is currently partly cloudy and 24 degrees Celsius in Georgetown, Guyana. At 9 AM local time, before the 10:30 AM start, light and patchy rain is likely to occur in Guyana. Light rains are forecast every hour till 4 PM, after which the weather will remain partly cloudy for the remainder of the day.
India has been allocated the Guyana semifinal due to match timings, as the 10:30 AM local time slot, corresponding to 8 PM Indian Standard Time, is more TV-friendly. The final, scheduled in Bridgetown, Barbados, on June 29, will commence at 10 AM local time, translating to 7:30 PM in India, according to ESPNCricinfo.
There will be no reserve day for the second semifinal. However, an additional 250 minutes of playing time has been allotted to the match due to the tournament schedule's constraints. If a reserve day were allocated for semifinal two, it would have meant only a day's gap for recovery and practice between that game and the final.
The second semifinal could face a tight squeeze if persistent rain occurs because, as per rules, a result can only be decided if both teams bat for at least 10 overs. In most T20 games, teams batting second must bat for at least five overs to constitute a result. This system applied for the majority of ICC T20 World Cup matches and was also the case for knockout games in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
—ANI