Two abandoned games spice up race in Group 1 STANDINGS

MUMBAI: The T20 World Cup’s Battle Royale between hosts Australia and traditional rivals England, scheduled for Friday, turned out to be a damp squib as the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to heavy rain in Melbourne.

It was a do-or-die game where the loser would have been virtually knocked out of the tournament but the one point earned keeps both Australia and England in contention for a semi-final berth, provided they win their remaining two matches.

England captain Jos Buttler said it was disappointing to miss out on the chance to play his 100th T20I in front of a packed house. “Yeah, due to be a massive occasion, full house here against Australia, the biggest game of your career. Very disappointed. Would have been a great place to do it (100 caps) but full focus on our next match and keeping our tournament alive. We’ve been playing some good cricket leading into the tournament. Really disappointing performance the other night (against Ireland). But we’ve retained full faith in the group and have confidence in the players for the rest of the tournament,” Buttler said.

The clear consequence of rain affecting a tournament is that the net run-rate becomes a big factor. Australia are under pressure to push up their run-rate (-1.555).

“Net run rate is going to come into it. We knew that at the start of the tournament. When you only play five games, net run rate can influence who goes through into the final four,” said Australia coach Andrew McDonald.

“First and foremost, you’ve got to win the game. Then you can earn the right to push for NRR. We’ve got to be ready for Afghanistan and Ireland and control what we can,” said captain Finch.

Yet, Australia would be the happier side despite the fact that both the sides ended up with equal points and England’s NRR (0.239) being much better than that of the hosts. This is because England’s remaining fixtures — New Zealand and Sri Lanka — are tougher on paper. Australia’s coming matches are against Ireland and Afghanistan.

Group 1 is wide open now with heavy afternoon showers ruling out any possibility of play between Ireland and Afghanistan earlier in the evening. Four teams are now on three points each — New Zealand, England, Ireland and Australia. New Zealand have played one match less. Sri Lanka have two points from two games while Afghanistan have two from three games.

New Zealand’s fixture against Sri Lanka on Saturday is now being seen as the key encounter. A win on Saturday would put NZ in control of the group. Sri Lanka play their last two games against Afghanistan and England.