Ireland remain third after rain abandons game against Afghanan
Another washed out contest at the 2022 T20 World Cup meant Ireland and Afghanan shared a point each in the Super 12 stage. While Ireland did leap to the second spot in the Group 1 standings, their stay was short lived as a result of England sharing a point with Australia after rain abandoned the second game on Friday as well. Meanwhile, Afghanan managed a second point owing to rain.
Earlier on Wednesday, Afghanan’s match against New Zealand had also been called off due to rain without a ball being bowled. A similar scenario played out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday as the two captains couldn’t come out for the toss.
Group 1 clash between Afghanan and Ireland has been abandoned due to persent rain in Melbourne 🌧#T20WorldCup | #AFGvIRE pic.twitter.com/Kk4io0UP91
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) October 28, 2022
“Very disappointed to be not playing at such an amazing ground,” Afghan skipper Mohammad Nabi said. “Me and Rash (Rashid) played a lot of BBL games here, but most of the players are waiting to play here.. But it’s not in our hands and we look forward to the upcoming games.”
Playing after rounding up a famous win five runs (DLS method) against England at the same venue, the Irish skipper Andrew Balbirnie shared similar sentiments.
“Very disappointing. We played some really good cricket the other night and were looking forward to this fixture against the team we know really well. If it could have gone our way, we could have gone to Brisbane with a lot of hopes of going into the next round,” Balbirnie said.
Can Ireland qualify for the semifinal?
Even though they would’ve been eyeing all two points against Afghanan, three points in three games isn’t a bad place for Ireland to be. The probability of rain affecting their next two games is down to 20 percent.
With England and Australia also sharing a point from their Super 12 game, four teams are currently level with three points in hand while Sri Lanka (2) and New Zealand (3) still have a match in hand.
If Ireland win their next two games against Australia and New Zealand, a tough task, Ireland will have seven points in five games. Winning the next two games a bigger margin will ensure a NRR boost, which will further amplify their chances. New Zealand winning their remaining games against Sri Lanka and England will confirm Ireland qualifying for the semifinals.
If Ireland beat Australia and lose to New Zealand, they will have to count on the Blackcaps winning all their remaining games, beating England and Sri Lanka big to lower their current net run rate as well as Australia not beating Afghanan and overtaking them in the NRR column.
If they lose to Australia and beat New Zealand, Ireland will progress if the Blackcaps win their remaining games and none of the other teams finish with more than five points and a lower net run rate.
