England would be the happier of the two teams with the points shared because Australia is the side that needs to make up ground in the T20 World Cup.
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Australia’s fixture in Melbourne was rained out, with its Super 12 2022 T20 World Cup match against England abandoned on Friday. Earlier, Afghanistan endured a washout for the second time in three days, with its T20 World Cup match against Ireland also being called off. Afghanistan’s match against New Zealand was also washed out without a ball being bowled.
It was the second consecutive rain-affected fixture for Ireland too. However, enough overs were bowled in its game to force a result against England on Wednesday in Melbourne.
Out of the five matches so far scheduled to be played in Melbourne, only India v Pakistan has gone ahead as planned. Two more matches are planned for Melbourne: the final game in Group Two between India and Zimbabwe on 6 November, and the final itself a week later.
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England would be the happier of the two teams with the points shared because Australia is the side that needs to make up ground. England leads Australia on net run rate 0.239 to -1.555, so a point apiece keeps its nose in front. New Zealand stays on top with 3 points, thanks to a superior net run rate. It is followed by England (3 points), Ireland (3 points), Australia (3 points), Sri Lanka (2 points) and Afghanistan (2 points).
England’s remaining fixtures are against New Zealand and Sri Lanka who are tougher on paper compared to Australia’s, Ireland and Afghanistan – so Friday’s washout means a chance of making a decisive move up the table has now gone begging. That said, two big wins in its final two matches, first against the Kiwis and then Sri Lanka, should be enough to send England through.
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England’s Squads:
Jos Buttler (C), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Tymal Mills, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Alex Hales. Standby Players: Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson
