India reached a first ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final Thursday after their last four clash against England was washed out, sparking calls for the International Cricket Council to include reserve days in future events.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten side were due to face the 2009 champions at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but the rain began pouring early in the day with barely any let-up.
With a minimum 10 overs per side needed for a result and no break in the weather, the umpires called it off without a ball being bowled. Normally, five overs per side are needed to constitute a T20 match, but the rules are different for ICC tournaments.
A reserve day is allowed for the final and the lack of one for the semis has been criticised by some players, with England captain Heather Knight among those calling for change.
Ranked four in the world, India had made three semi-finals before this year and lost every time, including against England at the last World Cup.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the India-England result on Thursday:
Match abandoned without a ball being bowled.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 5, 2020
A gutting way for our #T20WorldCup journey to end.#WeAreEngland pic.twitter.com/xXROAIU9j4
As an indian I am absolutely thrilled india has made it to the finals . But as a cricketer I feel for the English girls . I’d never want to find myself or my team in that situation. But the rules are such and it is what it is. Congratulations girls.This is big. #INDvENG #T20WC
— Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03) March 5, 2020
Biggest stand-alone women’s event in history on Australian soil and a finalist is decided because of a few hour’s rain. No back-up option provided in the playing conditions despite any number of options available to world cricket. #T20WorldCup
— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) March 5, 2020
Would have loved seeing the semi-finals but Indra Devta ke aage kaun jeet sakta hai.
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 5, 2020
Mehnat ka parinaam achha milta hai. A reward for Winning all the matches in the group stage. Congratulations @BCCIWomen and wishing you glory this Sunday #T20WorldCup
Congratulations to the Indian Women's team on qualifying for the @T20WorldCup final. We are proud of you girls and wish you all the luck for the finals. 🇮🇳👏 @BCCIWomen
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) March 5, 2020
Would have been great to see the match, but many congratulations to @BCCIWomen for making it to the finals of the #T20WorldCup . A reward for winning 4 out of 4 in the group stages. Wishing the girls the very best for the finals on #WomensDay
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) March 5, 2020
Congratulations @BCCIWomen on reaching the #T20WorldCup finals! Wishing you lots of success & tremendous victory ahead. Way to go!
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) March 5, 2020
Brilliant news! Congratulations to the Indian Women's Team on the reaching the @T20WorldCup final @BCCIWomen 🇮🇳👏
— Umesh Yaadav (@y_umesh) March 5, 2020
First #T20WorldCup semi-final officially called off. India into the final, England out without a ball bowled. Gutted for the players/staff who put months/years of planning into a campaign for it to end like this. pic.twitter.com/n2xlj0j5nq
— Laura Jolly (@JollyLauz18) March 5, 2020
And that means I get to see India play the final @Melbourne. Delighted. Will be wonderful to see them win it. Will be quite an occasion at the gigantic @MCG . On my way there. #ICCWomensT20WorldCup2020
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 5, 2020
Congratulations to the #indianwomen cricket team for reaching the finals of the #T20WorldCup well played during the league stage
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 5, 2020
Absolutely heartbroken for the England Cricket girls. Knocked out of the T20 World Cup because of the weather.
— Alexandra Hartley (@AlexHartley93) March 5, 2020
I only think it’s only fair to call the second game off as well now @CricketAus ? 😉😉#T20WorldCup #BBCCricket #WeAreEngland pic.twitter.com/MeDT0Xr36r
England became world champions recently without actually winning the final and have now been eliminated from a world cup without actually losing their semifinal #T20WorldCup
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) March 5, 2020
Absolutely amateur stuff not moving the semis away from Sydney. They knew 3-4 days ago it was going to rain but didn’t move the games. Utter rubbish stuff from ICC. #T20WorldCup
— John Murray (@SidebySide) March 5, 2020
As an Indian I am happy they progressed to the final but even if they win the final that won't be the true justice to them because of poor ICC rules and their logistics. They knew that weather was not good for the match but they didn't had the guts to change the venue .Poor ICC
— Aryan Jain (@aryan_jain17) March 5, 2020
Geoff's on a roll in his thread - all spot on. But this is a point that hasn't been pulled apart. It's just nonsense that the travel/training days were sacrosanct. If so, then why not for the blokes last year? The backflip needed to come two days ago. Shambles. #T20WorldCup https://t.co/blwB7l9kXQ
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) March 5, 2020
1/2 ... For the dates of the T20 world cup (21 Feb to 8 Mar) over past 5 years in Syd (2015-2019), there have been 22 days with at least 3mm of rain, which is 27% of all days during this time. So 27% chance today was going to be quite rain affected.
— Andrew Marshall (@AndyMarshall86) March 5, 2020
(With inputs from AFP)