And that’s me done. Thank you for your company across two very unusual OBOs today. We’ll be back again on Sunday for the final - it’s going to be huge. And my tip if you’re in Melbourne: buy your ticket now to avoid disappointment. It’s going to be one of the finest nights the ground has ever had. Until then, bye for now!
Meg Lanning speaks again at the presentation. Casting forward to Sunday, the captain knows they have plenty of homework to do before taking on India again, who knocked them off in the first game of the tournament. As she says, it has been a tough road for them to get here over the last two weeks but that they have. “I wish the game was tomorrow. I just want to play.” She’s very kind about South Africa and passes on her best wishes to Marizanne Kapp, who was ill tonight.
Dane van Niekerk speaks. She never hides her emotions, this the second time her side has fallen a few runs short in a semi-final. She gives a lot of love to her teammates, who she backs in to grow from this for big things soon. “It’s a strong side and I am heartbroken.” And they host the T20 World Cup next time around.
Meg Lanning is player of the match for her 49 and two catches. She’s talking on TV, starting off by saying how stressful the day was before crediting the grounstaff for making the game possible. We’ll hear from her again at the presentation.
The match report.
Tears in the South African team circle. They did so well with the ball to hold Australia to 134-5 before the rain. But as Nat Germanos says on the telly, this is a comparatively young Proteas side who have enhanced their reputation considerably over the last few weeks. They host the next T20 World Cup two years from now and they will go into that tournament ripe for something special.
South Africa finish on 92-5 (Target 98 - Wolvaardt 41*, de Klerk 6*)
What a rollercoaster, what a finish. Wolvaardt gave them a chance, ending unbeaten on 41 from 27 balls, but they needed one of their openers to go big. They fall short for the third time in a World Cup semi. As for Australia, they got back on the field just nine minutes before the deadline. They’ve found a way to the MCG. There, they will play India in the decider on International Women’s Day in of 91,000 Melburnians. Don’t worry about that: the world record is going on Sunday.
AUSTRALIA ARE IN THE WORLD CUP FINAL!
They have done it! Meg Lanning’s side win by five runs!
Updated
12.3 overs - Wolvaardt smashes Jonassen to midwicket but a brilliant diving stop denies her a boundary. She gets two. 13 off three needed.
12.4 overs - One to midwicket! They need two sixes.
12.5 overs - de Klerk helps herself to four around the corner but that’s not enough. Eight from the final ball required. Barring disaster, Australia have done it.
12.2 overs - Woolvaardt drives FOUR behind point! 15 off four needed.
WICKET! Tryon c Lanning b Jonassen 1 (South Africa 79-5)
Full toss! Tryon fluffs her lines though, miscuing to the captain Lanning who does the rest at midwicket. 19 from five balls. It’s just about done for Australia.
12th over: South Africa 79-4 (Wolvaardt 34, Tryon 1) Target 98 from 13 overs. Schutt’s hoop and accuracy is making this incredibly tough, singles their lot... UNTIL THE FINAL BALL! The best possible result for South Africa from it, Wolvaardt LAUNCHING Schutt over midwicket and over the fence! What a strike! And along with the runs, she gets Tryon on strike for the grandstand finish! The Proteas need 19 from the final over, with Jess Jonaassen to bowl it. Blimey!
WICKET! Luus c Mooney b Schutt 21 (South Africa 71-4)
Sune Luus did everything she could but her demise is a good result for South Africa. It cost them a delivery, in effect, holing out to Mooney at long-off.
11th over: South Africa 71-3 (Luus 21, Wolvaardt 27) Target 98 from 13 overs. Kimmince is trusted with a third over, rightly so. And she nearly pulls off a screamer in her follow through off Wolvaardt! In effect, she has saved four runs by getting a hand to it. Oh, and a genius slower ball to follow - a swing and a miss to the delivery out the back of the hand. Five off the over. They need 27 from 12.
10th over: South Africa 66-3 (Luus 19, Wolvaardt 24) Target 98 from 13 overs. Wolvaardt’s turn! She’s always a class act through the posh side and she’s played two glorious shots in a row in that direction for four! The second - on the up, inside out - is the shot of the chase so far. 11 off Carey’s over, leaving 32 from 18. And from Australia’s perspective... we have a game! This won’t be a washout!
9th over: South Africa 55-3 (Luus 18, Wolvaardt 14) Target 98 from 13 overs. Kimmince is so good, giving them absolutely nothing with two pristine yorkers. You can’t do much about that. But Luus finds a way! Knowing where it is going to be, Luus makes room and slaps the seamer with a cross-bat over her head for four. “Catch!” goes the call from the last ball, the dive from Jonassen at mid off... but she can’t quite pluck it out of the air. Luus is giving them some hope. They need 43 from the last four overs with six rain-free deliveries to ensure this match finishes with a formal result. I’ll say it again though: they have to get Tryon in.
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8th over: South Africa 47-3 (Luus 12, Wolvaardt 12) Target 98 from 13 overs. Good from Luus! She strikes South Africa’s first boundary for 29 deliveries, smashing Jonassen back past her for four. That’ll do. Oooh, Wolvaardt misses a half-tracker, nailing it straight to cover. But she makes up for it from the next offering, hitting the spinner over her head for SIX! Okay, 12 from the over. They needed that for belief as much as anything else. As Isa Guha points out, they need Chloe Tryon out there at some stage too, the player with the best strike rate in the world. Might there be a case for retiring one of these players out to engineer that?
7th over: South Africa 35-3 (Luus 7, Wolvaardt 5) Target 98 from 13 overs. Nic Carey is proving her worth with the ball in an important over. South Africa might have identified her as the bowler they could take down but it doesn’t happen here, the all-rounder nailing her yorkers and for just four singles. Spot on. A long way to go, and just ten an over needed, but I can’t see where these runs are coming from.
6th over: South Africa 31-3 (Luus 5, Wolvaardt 3) Target 98 from 13 overs. A bad mistake from Molineux, overstepping - as identified by the third umpire. Inexcusable from a spinner, as they always say. But Wolvaardt can’t make big contact with the free hit - a dot ball. She’s through the set giving up just five runs. This is getting very difficult for South Africa now, who haven’t hit a boundary for 22 deliveries, the TV tells me. They need 67 from 42, or 9.6 runs an over.
“Not sure this game is tense enough,” writes Peter Salmon. “With only the run chase and the possible rain. Could we have some helicopters circling? A ticking alarm clock bomb? Sharks with lasers? Just to pick things up a bit.”
I’m waiting for an eight-minute rain delay. Don’t rule it out!
5th over: South Africa 26-3 (Luus 2, Wolvaardt 2) Target 98 from 13 overs. Kimmince’s return to the team is immediately just justified with that controlled and effective over. I still can’t believe she was ever dropped but that doesn’t matter now. The only good news for South Africa is that Wolvaardt is a cool customer and she is coming off an unbeaten half-century in the final group game.
WICKET! du Preez c Lanning b Kimmince 0 (South Africa 24-3)
Uh oh! South Africa have lost 3/4! “Catch it Meg!” shouted Healy as du Preez’s drive sailed to cover and the captain made it with an expert forward dive.
Updated
WICKET! van Nierkerk b Schutt 12 (South Africa 23-2)
Lanning goes back to Schutt, her most dependable seamer, and she cuts the head off the South African snake! The captain is bowled through the gate, a quintissential dismissal for the South Australia swing ace. In the absence of Marizanne Kapp, missing tonight through illness, so much was on the shoulders of the Proteas’ captain but she’s finished from the final ball of the power play.
4th over: South Africa 23-2 (Luus 1) Target 98 from 13 overs.
Updated
WICKET! Lee c Gardner b Molineux 10 (South Africa 20-1)
Big! Lee was trying to break the back of the chase but has holed out to midwicket, miscuing her lofted sweep. Gardner did the rest in front of the Bill O’Reilly Stand. Molineux, after getting hammered over the same rope by van Niekerk to begin, has bounced back with a crucial scalp in her first over of the World Cup.
3rd over: South Africa 20-1 (van Niekerk 3, Luus 0) Target 98 from 13 overs.
Updated
2nd over: South Africa 9-0 (Lee 6, van Niekerk 3) Target 98 from 13 overs. Jonassen is Lanning’s banker at any stage of the innings, her accuracy and angle so tough to get away. Sure enough, it’s an excellent over, three singles their lot. Kimmince makes an excellent stop at square leg from the final ball; had she fumbled it was four runs for South Africa. The required rate creeps above eight.
1st over: South Africa 6-0 (Lee 5, van Niekerk 1) Target 98 from 13 overs. A lot of focus on what Australia need to do but now the players are out there, the pressure transfers to South Africa as well - what an emotional rollercoaster it has been for them over the last 12 hours. They have to keep their nerve; eight an over is far from daunting if this goes the distance. Lee takes a few balls to get as single to fine leg, the captain van Niekerk off the mark with one to midwicket. Back to Lee and she pulls hard, with power, behind square for four! That’ll settle the nerves.
Updated
THE PLAYERS ARE ON THE FIELD! It is Megan Schutt with the ball; Lizelle Lee on strike to begin. The power play will last for four overs. Three bowlers can bowl up to three overs and two bowlers will send down two. HERE WE GO! PLAY!
Another way of looking at it: Australia are in this game by nine minutes. So, if there is another rain delay, they will have to get back on very quickly. I wonder how Lanning will approach this? Will they go all-out with spin to get the ten overs in as quickly as possible?
Re-start 9:40pm!
A 13-over chase for South Africa! They require 98 to win.
We are yet to get a formal message about overs/target. But the key information is this: they are going to get on before the 9:49pm cut off. Talk about leaving this to the very last minute for Australia! If they get up here, it’ll be quite the story.
All systems go here. Trying to get this second innings going. This weather today has been amazing pic.twitter.com/vFAlNyNskl
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) March 5, 2020
THE COVERS ARE OFF!
Just when we thought this was trending towards a washout, reports from the ground are that the rain has stopped and the cover are off. Blimey!
I’m with Izzy.
If Australia get done over by (a) rain and (b) the fact that 20 overs could have actually been played had the regs allowed, can we pls at least get pics of them joining Eng at the bar and getting absolutely ratted.
— Isabelle Westbury (@izzywestbury) March 5, 2020
This is a public service request.
9:49pm. This is the only time that matters. In order for South Africa to face the minimum ten overs required for a result to be achieved here, they have to re-start by then. For those following around the world, it’s currently 9:15pm in Sydney.
It’s raining properly now. Overs will start to be deducted from South Africa’s chase in the next few minutes. Of course, we already lost half an hour earlier. Send in the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculations. I’ll try and get those up shortly. Sigh.
The big covers are coming on. During the final over the rain started to fall but as the players left the field it got heavy enough to get the ground staff out there. A reminder that to constitute a game, South Africa will need to be out there for ten overs. But we’re still a long way from that with a fair bit of time on the clock.
South Africa have given themselves a great chance. It’s raining, which helps batting teams at night. They’re chasing, which is almost always preferred in T20. And they have done the job with the ball, keeping Australia to a very chaseable target. Forget about rain, reserve days and reduced overs, the Proteas have done the job so far. The pressure now transfers to Meg Lanning’s strike bowlers.
AUSTRALIA FINISH ON 134-5
20th over: Australia 134-5 (Lanning 49, Carey 7) Much better from Khaka, prompting a quick single that would have ran out Lanning with a direct hit. Carey then takes a big swing but misses. She gets the single from the fourth ball, leaving Lanning two attempts to go big. She can’t from penultimate delivery, having to settle with two to midwicket. And she can’t from the final ball either, finishing with a single in the same direction. Two superb overs to finish for South Africa.
Updated
19th over: Australia 128-5 (Lanning 45, Carey 5) Nic Carey has to deliver here too - find the rope or give the strike to Lanning. Ismail keeps her quiet to begin and when the captain does get on strike, nearly slips a yorker through the gate. Oooh! The short ball is so close to getting her next up! Lanning tried to pull and it went straight in the air before nearly landing on her stumps! Ismail, in her follow through, nearly made it in time with a dive... but not quite. An exceptional death over; five off it. And Carey, not Lanning, is on strike to start the 20th over.
18th over: Australia 124-5 (Lanning 45, Carey 3) Khaka returns to bowl overs 18 and 20, presumably. South Africa have done so well putting the brakes on Lanning through the middle overs but they aren’t going to stop her hammering a full toss through cover for four. Help yourself stuff. van Niekerk wants her seamer to follow Lanning and it isn’t working either, four leg byes added and a legside wide too. To finish, the captain stays in her crease and leans into a drive rather than backing away, bisecting the ring through point with perfect timing. That’s the big over they really needed to break this open again - 17 from it. Your move, South Africa.
17th over: Australia 107-5 (Lanning 36, Carey 2) What a fine spell that was from the 20-year-old, brought back into the team tonight to do a job and do a job she did, finishing with 3/19. That could very well be the making of her. Good enough pace, plenty of movement through the air, accurate throughout. Super stuff.
HAS DE KLERK TRAPPED LANNING? She insists that DVN sends it upstairs for a look with the DRS... but she’s wrong to do so. The Australian skipper hit it.
WICKET! Haynes b de Klerk 17 (Australia 104-5)
Bowled her! de Klerk has done it again! Haynes picked this as the over to go big and made room outside the leg stump to the first delivery but didn’t make contact. That’s the second time the seamer has hit the woodwork; she has 3/16.
16th over: Australia 104-4 (Lanning 35, Haynes 17) DVN goes to Tryon again, which is a touch surprising, but the over only goes for nine which isn’t a terrible result at this stage of the innings. They score from every ball, scampering between the wickets, but without adding a boundary. The 100 is raised in the process.
Right, “rain is on the way” says Isa Guha, due to hit in 20 minutes. Matt Bonser makes an interesting point on the email to me: if Australia know the rain is coming is it not in their interests to declare to ensure that South Africa get ten overs at the crease to guarantee a finish? I’m not even sure if that’s permitted in a T20?
15th over: Australia 95-4 (Lanning 33, Haynes 10) Shot! Lanning advances at Mlaba and plays a beautiful lofted drive over cover, into the gap and away for a boundary. The spinner kept it together though, only giving up three other singles. Five overs to go, can Australia push it to 140-145? These two should be able to.
14th over: Australia 88-4 (Lanning 28, Haynes 8) When does Lanning pull the trigger, I wonder? She raced to 15 before the wickets fell, then put it away. As Mel Jones says on TV, there have been 35 deliveries without a boundary now. Six runs off Tryon’s second over makes 11 from her two - a very good result from the sixth bowler. That gives van Niekerk all the flexibility she needs for the death overs.
13th over: Australia 82-4 (Lanning 25 Haynes 6) Here comes Ismail again for her third over - a big play from DVN to use her weapon here. In terms of scoreboard pressure, four dot balls do the trick. But you get the feeling watching that over the Australians are happy enough letting her bowl her overs out without much risk.
12th over: Australia 80-4 (Lanning 25 Haynes 5) Tryon is into the attack, South Africa’s sixth bowler. A good time to bring her on from DVN, before Haynes is properly in. Both teams will be happy with five from the over. This is set up nicely.
11th over: Australia 75-4 (Lanning 23 Haynes 2) Sure enough, the wickets have dried up the attack, four runs Australia’s lot here after Gardner’s departure. But the good news for the home side is that their two most dependable middle-order operators are in the middle. They know precisely what to do here: accumulate.
WICKET! Gardner c Chetty b de Klerk 0 (Australia 71-4)
They have some work to do now! Gardner is gone for a duck! To a delivery well outside the off-stump she took a swing, but with very little footwork to speak of paid the price with a feather through to the gloves of Chetty. They’ve lost 3/3.
10th over: Australia 71-3 (Lanning 21, Gardner 0) An excellent set from Mlaba, taking a wicket then keeping Lanning and Gardner to one run between them. They’re quickly working their way back into this after Lanning’s big over.
WICKET! Jonassen c Ismail b Mlaba 1 (Australia 69-3)
And it doesn’t last! Jonassen has a crack at Mlaba straight away but doesn’t get anywhere near enough of it, Ismail taking a safe catch coming in from long-on. Difficult to understand why she was in ahead of Haynes or Gardner.
9th over: Australia 70-2 (Lanning 20, Jonassen 1) Jess Jonassen at No4! I didn’t see that coming. They’re really invested in this left/right thing, aren’t they?
WICKET! Mooney b de Klerk 28 (Australia 68-2)
Bowled her! Mooney danced at the medium pacer and tried to flick through midwicket but missed, the ball going on to uproot leg stump. With the opener looking set, that’s just as important as the Healy dismissal for South Africa.
8th over: Australia 64-1 (Mooney 28, Lanning 15) Oooh, that’s a superb shot from Lanning, dancing down at her opposing number van Niekerk and lofting her over the rope at extra cover for SIX! “Classic Lanning!” says Isa Guha on telly. Indeed it is. Without the insurance of Perry, the skipper is even more important tonight.
7th over: Australia 54-1 (Mooney 27, Lanning 6) With the field out, Nadine de Klerk is into the attack with her medium pace for the first time tonight, brought into the side for Kapp. And just what you want for the seventh over: six runs, carefully accumulated. Mooney knows how to lay a base in the middle overs.
6th over: Australia 48-1 (Mooney 25, Lanning 3) Dane van Niekerk is a big-time performer and she knows this ground well, a member of the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL. Mooney plays her very nicely first up, sweeping carefully into the gap for four. She does again to finish the power play, hopping down the track and getting to the pitch of a legbreak, timing it through cover for four more! Mooney’s away.
“I’m a bit (lot) to the party but I’m really loving the women’s cricket,” tweets Marizanne Webb to me. “Having it on free to air at work-friendly time with excellent commentators, starting to know players - which is so important for a general punter like myself.” Absolutely. Just as it was with the Women’s Big Bash in those crucial early seasons, they built it and people came (and watched on TV).
5th over: Australia 37-1 (Mooney 15, Lanning 2) Lanning walks out rather than Gardner. They copped a bit of stick about doing this in their previous game too. I don’t get why people get so agitated about these matters in T20 cricket but there we have it. The skipper is off the mark from the final ball of the successful over, steering a couple. Before the wicket, Mooney slapped a boundary through cover.
WICKET! Healy c van Niekerk b Khaka 18 (Australia 34-1)
Taken at midwicket! The skipper had to jump to take it above her head but timed the movement perfectly. Khaka gets the huge wicket after she was dropped in the previous over. They know how big that could be in a couple of hours from now.
4th over: Australia 29-0 (Healy 18, Mooney 10) Mlaba has bowled a lot of overs in the power play and comes on now with the field up to send down her left-arm orthodox. A couple of singles to the sweepers to begin before Healy takes the spin on down the ground, hammering consecutive boundaries. That was where she scored so heavily in her player-of-the-match performance against Bangladesh last week. OOH! DROPPED TO FINISH! Chetty has put Healy down behind the stumps! It was a tough chance, the edge coming when Healy was deep in the crease attempting to cut. In and out it went. So close to a huge moment.
3rd over: Australia 18-0 (Healy 9, Mooney 9) A top contest between two of the best competitors in the women’s game, Healy taking Ismail on through cover in the air for four. So well struck. But the pocket-rocket quick bounces back the only way she knows: with a rapid bouncer. Great stuff. Earlier in the set, Mooney picked up her first boundary too, an unconvincing shovel through the onside.
2nd over: Australia 9-0 (Healy 5, Mooney 4) Ayabonga Khaka is taking the new ball from the other end with Marizanne Kapp missing this semi-final with illness. She’s slightly too full to begin at Mooney, who steers her nicely through cover for a couple. Three quality dots follow, the last of those beating Mooney with a lovely bit of shape away from the left-hander. Oooh, Healy takes a huge swing at the final delivery, going within a ball-width of taking out her off-stump. Again, plenty of movement. The South African seamers have started very nicely indeed.
1st over: Australia 6-0 (Healy 5, Mooney 1) A dangerous start from Ismail, beating Healy on the outside edge with her first ball and then the inside edge second up. It prompts a huge appeal for leg before, turned down by Nitin Menon. van Niekerk elects not to send it upstairs, the ball trending just down the legside by her assessment. Good call. Healy gets Australia going later in the over with a slap over cover point, taking full advantage of some extra width. Mooney gets her first look from the final ball of this first over and tucks it around the corner for a single.
The players are on the field. No anthems, straight into it. Good stuff. Alyssa Healy will be taking the first ball of this second semi final, to be sent down by Shabnim Ismail, the quickest bowler in the women’s game. And here we go! PLAY!
South Africa: Lizelle Lee, Dane van Niekerk (c), Sune Luus, Mignon du Preez, Laura Wolvaardt, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Trisha Chetty (wk), Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba.
Australia: Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (c), Ashleigh Gardner, Jess Jonassen, Rachael Haynes, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Delissa Kimmince, Megan Schutt.
South Africa have won the toss and elected to bowl
No hesitation from Dane van Niekerk. “If we want to get to the final we have to beat the defending champions.” Big news: Marizanne Kapp is not fit to play, having not recovered from the virus that struck her down earlier this week.
Meg Lanning is happy with the pitch. Of course, Ellyse Perry is out injured with Annabel Sutherland also omitted. In their place is Sophie Molineux, comes in for her first game of the tournament and Delissa Kimmince returns as well.
Toss 7:05pm; start 7:20pm!
Would you believe it: a full game is scheduled! Provided the rain stays away.
Some comments from England captain, Heather Knight. Her said were washed out of the competition earlier today, India going through as the higher qualifier. “It’s a horrible way to exit a tournament. There’s obviously nothing we could have done and to not get the chance to go out there and play for a place in the final is gutting. I really hope that we’re the last team who ever exit an ICC tournament in this way. We’ve been bridesmaids before but to lose out to rain is a new feeling.”
Make of this what you will, the TV broadcast has left the SCG and we’re back to highlights of old World Cups. As a rule, that means they have been told we are quite a long way from any meaningful action - i.e. a toss, in the first instance.
A reminder, if you are new to the OBO, that you can hit me up on the email with your considered thoughts, or you can ping me a hot take via twitter.
All eyes turn to the rain radar. For a lifetime local cricketer and journalist on the game, I’ve never been particularly good at interpreting the radar. But from a quick look at the BOM, it appears as though more rain might hit the SCG later. So, the first milestone here is getting the ground as dry as possible and holding a toss.
The first we have seen of the pitch. Due to all the rain, it is going to take plenty of work to get the outfield up to scratch. But as I noted earlier today, we know how quickly the SCG groundstaff got the job done for the Big Bash final last month.
The covers have been removed!
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) March 5, 2020
No news of a toss time yet, but here's a look at the SCG wicket for today's game 👀#T20WorldCup | #SAvAUS pic.twitter.com/efBUhXi0MF
THE COVERS ARE OFF!!!!
GREAT NEWS!
Well can you believe it. The covers are coming off here at the SCG and we are going to see some cricket.
— Alexandra Hartley (@AlexHartley93) March 5, 2020
Australia V South Africa 🇦🇺 🇿🇦@T20WorldCup @bbctms #T20WorldCup #BBCCricket pic.twitter.com/WUU5UuGFx4
If you’re just catching up, there is no reserve day for these semi-finals. As a result, India have already qualified for the decider without a ball being bowled in Sydney earlier today, England having to taste that bitter pill. We went into the elements of that earlier today on the OBO if you wish to read through. Needless to say, if they don’t get on the field this evening, there’s going to be one hell of a backlash. Both because this wasn’t planned for to begin with and also because administrators ruled out trying to fix the problem earlier this week when heavy rain was forecast.
Preamble
Hello again! For those who were with me earlier for the rained out first semi, we’ll maintain the same pretence (for the sake of sanity) and prepare as though there will be a start at the scheduled time. Of course, that won’t happen - and whether they can get on later for a ten-over smash is anyone’s guess - but let’s give it a go.
For Australia, it remains as it has since losing their tournament opener against India - they just have to win. For themselves as a team, to deliver on the promise of their dominance in this format, and for those who have invested so much in trying to fill the MCG for Sunday’s final on International Women’s Day.
If they play as they did against New Zealand on Monday, they are well placed: it was a far more comprehensive victory than the four-run margin suggested. That the SCG is the ground where Alyssa Healy and Ash Gardner have done some of their best work can only help, too. Not that it offsets the loss of Ellyse Perry. It will be interesting at the toss what they do there. For mine, I’d include Delissa Kimmince. All that experience and variety; never should have been dropped.
As for South Africa, the main question is whether their own superstar all-rounder, Marizanne Kapp, will be fit to play - she has been knocked around with a virus. This is the Proteas third semi in major tournaments, the most recent coming at the 2017 ODI World Cup when they came ever so close to knocking off the hosts in a thriller. After beating England in their first game here – undefeated thereafter – they have earned their status as the team who to progress if the rain doesn’t stop.
It will need to by 8:36pm local - that’s when we need to see the toss held, (with a start at 8:51pm ) - in order to get the ten overs in for both teams. The attitude from the groundstaff will be simple: whatever it takes. If they can’t, it will be a dreadful way for the hosts and defending champions to bow out. Stand by.
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