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As threatened, the toss has been delayed … but it’s not raining at the moment, so it could be worse.
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Hello everyone and welcome to the biggest game of this World Cup so far. It’s the holders against the favourites. It’s Jos Buttler against Jasprit Bumrah. It’s Rohit Sharma against Jofra Archer. It’s the flashing blade against the turning ball. And it’s cricket against the weather.
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The first semi-final was an absolute shower and the second threatens to be just one downpour after another. We are not in North America now, we’re not in the Caribbean either – we’re on the north coast of South America, close to the rainforest, in the rainy season.
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The clue is in the name: Guyana is an indigenous word meaning the land of many waters. I went there once to cover a Test match and not a single ball was bowled, though, to be fair, the clouds did clear in time to allow an impromptu ODI.
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England haven’t been to Guyana since the last World Cup in these parts, 14 years ago. None of their players has appeared in an international at Providence Stadium, not even Buttler with his vast experience. The pitch tends to offer meagre bounce as well as lavish turn. England have just the one specialist spinner, the red-hot Adil Rashid, plus two handy part-timers in Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone, whereas India routinely pick three proper twirlers – Kuldeep Yadav for the wristy mysteries, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja for some solid slow left-arm. In this light, it’s even easier than usual to picture an England collapse.
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India hold a few other aces. The weather gods are on their side: if the match is abandoned, they go through (because they topped their group in the Super Eights). And it will be abandoned if we don’t get ten overs a side, rather than the normal five. There is no reserve day, just an extra four hours. It’s as if the ICC have gone out of their way to add to their collection of scheduling abominations.
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These are advantages, though, that India don’t need. They have the tools, the talent and the temperament to win any game fair and square. You can tell that this is quite a team when the weakest link is a man called Kohli. They should have a powerful motive too, as the last time they met England in a T20 World Cup semi-final, they lost by ten wickets.
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England have staggered through to this stage largely by virtue of demolishing the smaller teams (not that that is to be sniffed at – their football counterparts could really do with it). Their only big performance against big opponents came when they dismantled West Indies. Can they do it against the biggest nation of all? I rather doubt it, but you never know.
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Play starts, with a bit of luck, at 3.30pm (BST). I’ll be back soon with the toss and teams, or some exciting news about the weather.
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Important Events
Umbrellas have been erected around the grounds and Supersoppers are in operation. In Cape Town, Wayne Murray is responding to my rebuttal. “Thanks for your reply,” he says. “And that’s my excuse for only skimming the preamble. I’ve been up since 2am to watch the Proteas v Afghanistan semi-final and now that work is done I’m exhausted.” Oh well!
“It would have been nice if India had come second in the Super Eights,” says David Howell. “Then (assuming the match does not go ahead) they would have been removed by their own governance, which effectively runs the ICC.
“Playing the semi-finals in June in the Amazon rainforest with no reserve day? That’s a massive lack of common sense in every sense.”
It’s raining again
Dinesh Karthik stood there with his sun hat on as rain began to fall all around him. Today was going to be one of those days.
“Weather your expectations,” Wayne Murray says. “Greetings from an unseasonably (very) warm Cape Town. It should be 11 degrees and storming, but I’m enjoying 25 degree weather in just a t-shirt. I’m not complaining about the weather.
“For that matter, what happens if the T20 World Cup semi-final in Guyana is cancelled today? Is tomorrow the reserve day? Or will the team with the highest NRR win by default?” If there is no reserve day, India will win. See preamble.
The grounds staff may be hurt now by Ward’s comments but they’re there. Meanwhile, Eoin Morgan was asked if a shorter match would suit England and he thinks it might. “It might be more of a fight than a brawl.”
For Sky, the weather forecaster is Ian Ward. “The cover is still on,” he reported, “and the ground staff won’t take it off. They were very aggressive until about an hour and a half ago.”
The toss was late!
As threatened, the toss has been postponed… but with no rain at the moment, things could get a lot worse.
How green is your outfield?
This beautiful wildflower meadow Corbridge CC -2023 winners translation: Greenest Ground Competition. See below for 2024 club entries. Mark Cocker Sports Eco Group https://t.co/2uKuBrNrko pic.twitter.com/rQpsR425r2
— Tanya Aldred (@tjaldred) June 26, 2024
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The first email of the day came from Victor Manley. “I’d love to send the standard email saying, ‘I wish they’d play in my backyard,'” he says, “but I’m in Glasgow and the email is getting here.”
“It’s hard to think of a worse place to play cricket in late June than Guyana…the Arctic or the Mariana Trench? Looking forward to OBO…if it comes.”
Faint Light
Well it stopped but… #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/ODXWmI7CfE
— Ian Ward (@WardyShorts) June 27, 2024
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preamble
Hello everyone. Welcome to the biggest World Cup match yet. Favourites vs favourites. Jos Buttler vs Jasprit Bumrah. Rohit Sharma vs Jofra Archer. Glittering swords vs spinning balls. And cricket vs weather.
The first semi-final was total rain, the second threatened to be a downpour. We are not in North America, nor in the Caribbean, but on the north coast of South America, in the rainy season, near a tropical rainforest.
The clue is in the name: Guyana means “land of many waters” in the indigenous language. I was there once to cover a Test match and not a single ball was bowled. In fairness, the clouds cleared and an impromptu ODI took place.
England have not visited Guyana since the last World Cup in this region 14 years ago. No English player, not even the highly experienced Buttler, has played an international match at the Providence Stadium. The pitches tend to offer little bounce and a lot of spin. England have just one specialist spinner, Adil Rashid, who is in top form, and two handy part-timers in Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone. Meanwhile, India regularly field three fully-fledged twirlers in the wrist-smart Kuldeep Yadav and the steady slowing left-armers Akshar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. From this perspective, it is easier than usual to imagine an England collapse.
India have a few other aces. The weather gods are on their side. If the match is abandoned, they go through (as they topped their group in the Super Eights). And the match will be abandoned if it’s 10 overs per team instead of the usual five. There’s no reserve day, just four extra hours. It’s as if the ICC has deliberately piled on these scheduling annoyances.
But these are advantages India don’t need. They have the means, talent and temperament to win any match fair and square. When you consider that their weakest link is a man called Kohli, you can tell this is a pretty strong team. They should also have a strong motivation, as they lost by 10 wickets the last time they played England in a T20 World Cup semi-final.
England have stumbled their way to this stage largely thanks to beating smaller teams (and let’s not discount that – their football opponents really should too). Their only great performance against a strong side came when they beat the West Indies. Can they do the same against the biggest nations? I rather doubt it, but who knows.
With any luck, the match will start at 3:30pm BST and we’ll bring you the toss, the teams or any exciting news straight away. weather.
