ENGLAND’S final against Pakistan is threatened by the weather – and that could mean the trophy is SHARED.
The forecast in Melbourne for Sunday and the reserve day on Monday is terrible with a 95 per cent chance of rain and thunderstorms.
Four matches in the Twenty20 World Cup have already been washed out – three of them in Melbourne – and another two decided by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
Tournament rules for the final state that at least ten overs-a-side are needed to constitute a match.
If the game starts on Sunday and is then rained-off, play will resume on Monday at the same point with the same number of overs. If no play is possible on Sunday, a whole game will be played on Monday.
The 2002 Champions Trophy was shared between India and Sri Lanka after to days of rain in Colombo ruined the final.
England made it to the final with a spectacular ten-wicket win over India at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday morning.
India batted first and set Jos Buttler‘s side what appeared to be a tricky target of 169 runs to win.
However, Buttler and his opening partner Alex Hales got stuck in and easily chased down the total with a supreme batting display.
Buttler’s 80 off 49 balls and Hales 86 off 47 helped England march to the total in just 16 overs.
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After the game, the captain said: “I’m immensely proud of the guys, that was a brilliant performance, by far our best performance of the tournament.
“We’re a good team, I think that’s probably where the performance comes from. We’ve got some brilliant players in our team and when they play their best, they’re a tough team to beat.
“We’re an incredibly dangerous side, there’s huge confidence in the group, we haven’t at points played as well as we could have done in the tournament yet still found ourselves in the semi-final of a World Cup.
“To play like we did in such a high-pressure game is immensely satisfying.
“It’s important we enjoy the performance but of course don’t get too far ahead of ourselves. The biggest game of this tournament is still to come.
“It’s going to be an amazing occasion. You don’t come down this road very often so it’s certainly something to be relished.”
