Will rain affect India-England T20 World Cup semifinal; what’s the weather like in Guyana

ANI

Georgetown (Guyana), June 27

Though the T20 World Cup semifinal clash between India and England looks extremely promising, a rain threat looms over it.

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 for 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, as per Indian Standard Time, is a much more TV-friendly slot of 8 pm. The final, to be held in Bridgetown, Barbados, on June 29, will take place at 10 am local time, and happen at 7.30 pm in India, as per ESPNCricinfo.

There will be no reserve day for the second semifinal. However, an extra 250 minutes’ worth of time will be given to the match. The extra time has been added since the tournament schedule does not allow for a reserve day. If a reserve day was given for the semifinal two, it would have meant just a day's worth of gap for recovery and practice between that game and the final.

The second semifinal could be in for a tight squeeze if persistent rain takes place because, as per rules, a result can only be decided if both teams bat for at least 10 overs. In the majority of T20 games, the teams batting second are supposed to bat for at least five overs in order to achieve a result. This system was in place for the majority of the ICC T20 World Cup matches. But in the knockout games though, teams batting second will have to face at least 10 overs in order to decide on a result as per the Duckworth-Lewis method. This was also the case for the knockout games in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.

As per an ICC spokesperson, overs will be reduced only from 2.40 pm, which is 250 minutes after the scheduled start of 10.30 am. For a 10-over match, the game will have to start at 4.14 pm local time, the spokesperson added, as per ESPNCricinfo.

If the game is not completed and is washed out due to rain, Men in Blue will move to the finals as they topped the Super Eights group, as compared to England's second-place finish in Group two. 

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