MELBOURNE: Inclement weather here in Melbourne could yet have the last word in this T20 World Cup, with a 100% chance of rain predicted during the Pakistan-England final on Sunday.
There is a reserve day for the final but that too could be washed out by rain. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, which has been in the news throughout this World Cup, has predicted 8 to 20 mm of rain on Sunday, along with the "chance of a thunderstorm, possibly severe".
The reserve day on Monday has a 95% chance of rain in the morning and the afternoon, along with the chance of a thunderstorm. Given the forecast, the prospect of a shared trophy could be on the cards, although organisers International Cricket Council (ICC) only need to get in a 10-over game (instead of the usual 5-over affair in the group stages).
Given the forecast, the ICC's Event Technical Committee (ETC) on Friday increased the provision of additional playing time on the reserve day to four hours from the original two.
"Only if the minimum number of overs necessary to constitute a match cannot be bowled on Sunday will the match go into the reserve day," the ICC said. If the game starts on Sunday but cannot be completed, it will resume on Monday from the point where it was halted. If no play is possible on Sunday even after the declaration of a reduction of overs, the game will remain a full 20-over affair on the reserve day.
Three Super 12 matches in Melbourne have already been washed out, although fans were lucky the rain stayed away during the dramatic India-Pakistan contest last month. The England-Ireland game was a curtailed rain-hit affair which caused a huge upset.
