The third T20 match between Pakistan and England in Cardiff, has been called off due to continuous rain.
Incessant rain continued in Cardiff due to which the toss could not be taken and the match was cancelled.
The first match of the series between Pakistan and England was rained out, while in the second match, England defeated Pakistan by 23 runs.
The final T20I of the series between Pakistan and England will be played on Thursday.
England defeated Pakistan by 93 runs in the 44th match of the World Cup 2023 played at Eden Garden, Kolkata.
England’s inning:
England won the toss and decided to bat against Pakistan. The English team scored 337 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
England’s first wicket fell on 82 runs, Iftikhar Ahmed dismissed David Mullan for 31 runs, and then Haris Rauf sent Jonny Bairstow back to the pavilion for 59 runs.
Ben Stokes played an inning of 84 runs, but he was bowled by Shaheen Afridi, Jurot got out after scoring 60 runs, Harry Brook scored 30 runs, Jos Buttler scored 27 runs and Moeen Ali scored eight runs.
On behalf of Pakistan, Haris Rauf and Muhammad Wasim got three wickets, Shaheen Afridi got two wickets and Iftikhar Ahmed got one wicket.
Pakistan’s inning:
In pursuit of England’s 338 runs, the Pakistan team was bowled out for 244 runs in 43.3 overs.
Opener Abdullah Shafiq was dismissed on zero on the second ball of the inning by David Willy while Fakhar Zaman was for 1 run. Captain Babar Azam scored 36, Muhammad Rizwan 38, Salman Ali Agha 51, Shaheen Afridi 25, Wasim Jr. 16, and Haris Rauf scored 35 runs.
On behalf of England, David Wily took 3 while Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, and Gus Atkinson took two wickets each.
The national cricket team will leave for home from India tomorrow:
Pakistan team will fly out of India in two groups.
First batch of 11 members of the team will depart from Kolkota at 8:55 am tomorrow November 12 via Emirates flight EK571. Remaining members will fly from Kolkota at 08:20 pm tomorrow November 12 via Emirates flight EK573
Players from Sialkot will be landing to their respective city from Emirates flight EK618 on November 13.
Player and members from team management from KPK, Islamabad and Rawalpindi will be landing in Islamabad via EK612 on November 13
Players from Lahore and team management will be landing from two different flights. EK622 and EK624 on November 13
Hasan Ali will stay back in India. He will return back to Pakistan on November 22.
Team director Mickey Arthur will stay in Dubai from November 13 to 16 before departing for Lahore on November 16.
New Zealand’s victory against Sri Lanka has made it difficult for Pakistan to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Pakistan will be playing its next match against England on Saturday.
These are the possible scenarios in which Pakistan can qualify:
1-First priority is to win the toss which is not in their hands.
2-If they win the toss and bat first, they should make a mountain of runs to defeat England by 287 runs, for example:
If Pakistan makes 300 runs they should restrict them to 13 runs.
If they make 400 runs they should restrict them to 113 runs.
3-If Pakistan loses the toss and bowls, first they would have to restrict them to 50 runs and chase it down in 2.3 overs or restrict them on 150 and chase in 3.4 overs which is almost impossible.
In the 41st match of the World Cup, New Zealand easily defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets, making their way to the semi-finals very easy and Pakistan’s seemingly impossible.
Sri Lanka’s inning:
The Sri Lankan team was bowled out for 171 runs in 46.4 overs, Kaushal Perera was outstanding by playing an innings of 51 runs.
Apart from this, Dhananjaya De Silva scored 19 runs, Angelo Mathews scored 16 runs, Asalanka scored 8 runs, and Mahesh Theshanka scored 38 runs.
On behalf of New Zealand, Trent Boult dismissed three players by giving 37 runs, Lockie Ferguson, Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra took two wickets each while Tim Southee took one wicket.
New Zealand’s inning:
Sri Lanka’s target of 172 runs was easily achieved by New Zealand at the loss of 5 wickets in 23.2 overs.
Dion Conway 45, Daryl Mitchell 43, Richan Ravindra scored 42 runs, captain Kane Williamson scored 14 runs and Mark Chapman scored 4 runs, Glenn Phillips remained unbeaten with 17.
For Sri Lanka Angelo Mathews took two wickets while Maheesh Theshanka and Chameera took one wicket each.
The much-awaited T20 World Cup final between Pakistan and England is set to be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia on November 13 (Sunday).
As fans wait with baited breath for the clash of the titans, a bit of a dampener is developing on the horizon.
The match is expected to be washed out by rain.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology of the Australian Government, there is a 95 per cent chance that Sunday will bring showers (8 to 20 mm). To make matters worse, Monday’s outlook is the same as Sunday’s. That is bad news for the 90,000 fans expected to show up at the stadium for the clash.
Under tournament playing conditions, if the final is abandoned, no result is possible or if a Super Over cannot be completed after a tie, “the teams shall be declared joint winners”.
There is another possibility that the final could be reduced to as short as a 10-overs-a-side game, even if the reserve day is activated in case of rain. It is pertinent to mention that in the semis and final, both teams must bat for a minimum of 10 overs to constitute a game.
Whether a match is resumed in the revised conditions is the key in determining how the game would continue on Monday at 3 pm, the scheduled starting time.
Prior to this, three T20 World Cup matches at the iconic MCG have already been abandoned due to bad weather.
In the 2002 Champions Trophy tournament, both Sri Lanka and India were declared winners because the final match couldn’t be completed in the two days allocated to it due to rain.