T20 World Cup: Could rain ruin England’s hopes of defending title with poor weather forecast for India’s semi-final? | Cricket News

England safely overcame a difficult road and heavy rain to reach the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup – but could the weather again hamper Jos Buttler’s side?

After opening the tournament with a clash against Scotland in Barbados which, followed by a defeat to Australia, left England on the brink of elimination before the champions turned things around to enter the Super 8 and secure a place in the last four .

But the forecast is again bad for Thursday’s semi-final against India in Guyana – live on Sky Sports Cricket from 3pm (first dance, 3:30pm) – and so what would that mean for England’s hopes of defending their title? We tried to break it all down for you…

What is the prediction for the England semi-final?

According to the Met Office on Tuesday, the weather forecast for Thursday in Guyana is currently for “thundershowers changing to heavy showers late morning”, with a 60 percent chance of rain forecast.

Guyana hosted five matches in the tournament’s initial group stage, none of which were rained out, although the last of which took place a fortnight ago on June 8.

As for the first semi-final between South Africa and Afghanistan in Trinidad on Wednesday night – live on Sky Sports Cricket from 1am on Thursday (first dance, 1.30am) – the Met Office suggests there will be “light showers which change to clear skies in the early evening” around the time of the match.

What are the rules if it rains?

There is no reserve day available for the second semi-final between England and India – although an extra 250 minutes are available to complete the match on the scheduled day.

This means that if the game cannot be completed due to bad weather, India will advance by overcoming their group of Super 8s.

The first semi-final between South Africa – who topped Group 2 – and Afghanistan, on Wednesday night in Trinidad, has a reserve day scheduled for Thursday.

Section 13.6.2.1 of the ICC playing conditions for the tournament states: “The final on 29 June will have a reserve day on 30 June. Each of the semi-finals will have additional time added to complete the match, which will total 250 minutes.

“For the first semi-final on June 26, 60 minutes will be available at the end of the game day, with the remaining 190 minutes scheduled for 2pm on June 27. While the additional 250 minutes for the second semi-final scheduled for June 27 will be used if necessary during extended play hours on the scheduled day.”

Why is England playing in the second semi-final?

It was pre-determined that if India reached the final four of the tournament, they would play the second semi-final as it was a more friendly time slot for their country’s TV audience (8 pm India).

None of India’s matches in the competition took place at the time scheduled for the first semi-final (6am in India).

With India finishing as winners of Group 1 in the Super 8 and England as runners-up in Group 2, this ensured that they progressed to the second semi.

What do the experts say? – ‘I don’t think it’s ideal at all’

Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton: “There is no rainy day in the semi-final between England and India. If it rains in this game, whoever finishes first in the group passes.

“The vagaries of the organization have put pressure on the organization of the tournament and this means that the two semi-finals will be played with slightly different rules and regulations.

“Secondly, India knew all along that they would be in Guyana for the semi-final and therefore could plan for that. Their logistics were already in tow so that the Indian fans would have the chance to get to Georgetown… The English fans won ‘ I don’t have that chance because it’s too late.

“A team knew they were going to the semi-final and I don’t think it’s ideal at all.”

Celestial Sports’ Nasser Hussain: “You can’t have two semi-finals with two different playing conditions, where one has a rainy day and the other doesn’t.

“The first is composed over two days or a day and a half. The second, the England-India game, is made up over the entire day – that’s 250 minutes that they can make up.

“We could start at 8am for a 10:30am start (local) and still be there at 10pm trying to finish the game!

“The second semi-final starts at 10.30am because the players, teams and referees need to fly to Barbados for the final on Saturday.

“And it is given to India because of the television audience in India, the largest audience in the ICC [International Cricket Council]. Not just India, but Bangladesh, Pakistan and that part of the world.

“I think the first part of the tournament seemed to be a bit meandering, with long breaks… you could have brought these games a little closer together, rather than, at the end of the real deal, having just one day between a crucial second semi-final and a final.”

Has anything similar happened before?

England women were eliminated from the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup after a semi-final defeat against India due to heavy rain in Sydney.

Once again, there was no reserve day scheduled, allowing India to qualify for the final by virtue of finishing top of their group, compared to England, who were runners-up in their group after suffering an early defeat to South Africa.

Hosts and eventual winners Australia – runners-up to India – looked to be facing the same fate, with both semi-finals being played at the same venue, on the same day, on this occasion, until the clouds cleared enough to see them defeat South Africa for a place in the final.

When are the semi-finals and final?

Thursday, June 27th

• Semifinal #1 – South Africa x Afghanistan, Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago (1h30)
• Semifinal #2 – India vs EnglandProvidence, Guyana (3:30 p.m.)

Saturday, June 29th

• Final – Bridgetown, Barbados (3:30 p.m.)

How did England reach the semi-finals?

After England’s hopes of progressing to the Super 8 hung by a thread due to rain in Scotland and the defeat of Australia, they dismantled Oman – destroying the associated nation for 47 before completing the chase in just 19 balls to, crucially, consider its net run rate higher than Scotland.

They then managed to beat rain and Namibia in Antigua, comfortably winning a 10-a-side encounter by 41 runs in the DLS, after initially fearing a late tournament defeat.

Even with those back-to-back wins, Buttler’s side were dependent on Australia beating Scotland in their final match and would have been nervous when the Scots scored 180-5 batting first and even more so when Australia needed 89 runs still in the final seven overs of their chase before the 2021 champions finally struck home with two balls to spare.

After reaching the Super 8, England really made it as they dismantled the hosts West Indies by eight wickets in their best performance of the tournament, chasing down a challenging target of 181 with 15 deliveries to spare, thanks to an unbeaten 87 off 47 balls from Phil Salt.

A seven-run defeat to South Africa followed, although late comebacks from Harry Brook (53 off 37) and Liam Livingstone (33 off 17) threatened to see them over the line.

A resounding victory over the USA was therefore necessary to secure a place in the semi-final and England duly delivered it when Chris Jordan won the England men’s squad with the first T20 international hat-trick before Buttler (83 in off 38 ) take his team to the last four as they chased 116 inside 10 overs and with all 10 wickets in hand.

Watch every T20 World Cup match, including the final in Barbados on Saturday 29 June, live on Sky Sports.

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