Canada’s maiden trip to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup ended prematurely on Saturday. Their final game against top-ranked India was abandoned before a ball was thrown.
The match is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. However, wet ground conditions at Central Broward Park and Broward County Stadium caused a delay in ET. After one hour of assessing the pitch, the umpires called the India-Canada game off.
Canada’s destiny in the competition was sealed Friday when the U.S.-Ireland game was rained out at the same stadium.
Current Standings: Group A: India at the top
Right now, 17th-ranked Americans have a single point, bringing their total to five behind unbeaten India in Group A. It also meant that No. 23 Canada and No. 6 Pakistan, both tied on two points with one game remaining. But still, it would be unable to catch the Americans.
Only the top two from each of the 20-country tournament’s four groups progress to the Super-8 round. To advance, the Canadians would have had to shock India, significantly increase their net run rate, and hope that both the United States and Pakistan lose to Ireland.
Even so, the Canadians and 11th-ranked Irish would have been deadlocked on four points with run rate factored in. Friday’s deluge rendered it all meaningless, leaving the Canadians hoping Mother Nature would not interfere with their last match against India.
Games featuring cricket’s superpowers are uncommon for ICC associate members such as Canada. When India and Canada faced off in one-day play at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, India won by 128 runs.
If the weather permits, India would also hope to see their star batsman Virat Kohli return to form following a spate of dismal performances in New York. Kohli has dominated the IPL before the T20 World Cup. He scored around 700 runs for Royal Challengers Bengaluru with a strike rate of more than 150.
Game Highlights and Upcoming Matches
India won the Twenty20 event in 2007. They finished second in 2014 and qualified to the semifinals in 2016 and 2022.
Canada lost their first match against the United States by seven wickets on June 1 in Texas. Previously, they’ve been beaten by Ireland by 12 runs on June 7 in suburban New York.
The Super Eights of the event will be contested in the West Indies, and India may contemplate adding Kuldeep Yadav into the assault. Ravindra Jadeja has looked like a shell of himself and has been unable to contribute with both bat and ball, making him the most vulnerable to being dropped.
India beat Ireland by eight wickets, Pakistan by six runs, and the United States by seven wickets. Pakistan and Ireland will play their last Group A game on Sunday at Lauderhill.
Canada is third in the group standings, with three points, after India (seven) and the United States (five). Pakistan has two points, while Ireland has only one.
The United States and the West Indies are co-hosting the event, which features 20 teams. The Super-8 stage is divided into two groups, with each club guaranteed three games to reach the semifinals.
