ICC defends World T20's monsoon dates

Published September 23, 2012

Bad weather on Saturday affected both games in Hambantota and Colombo. -Photo by AP

COLOMBO: The International Cricket Council on Sunday defended the scheduling of the World Twenty20 as monsoon rains threatened to ruin the tournament in Sri Lanka.

“This was the only period available in the Future Tours Programme this year to conduct the tournament,” an ICC spokesman told AFP. “All the teams were aware of it.”

The two-yearly tournament, being held in Sri Lanka for the first time, coincides with the traditional start of the monsoon season in the region.

The first four days of the event, which opened on September 18 and continues till October 7, stayed rain-free before bad weather on Saturday affected both games in Hambantota and Colombo.

The match between South Africa and Sri Lanka in the southern port town of Hambantota was reduced to seven-overs-a-side, which the Proteas won by 32 runs.

In Colombo, Australia were 100-1 in 9.1 overs chasing West Indies' total of 191-8 when heavy rain forced the match to be called off in front of 18,000 fans at the Premadasa stadium.

Australia, who still needed 92 more from 65 balls to win the game with nine wickets in hand, were declared winners by 17 runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis method that decides rain-hit games.

The forecast for the rest of the tournament is for worsening weather.

“There will be showers at times in the western, southern and central provinces,” meteorologist Pabodini Karunapala told AFP. “By the first week of October, we will start getting more rains.

“In Colombo, we should expect rain at any time, especially heavy rains during the early morning and evening.”

Sri Lanka, which was awarded hosting rights for the tournament in 2007, has organised just one international series in the month of October since gaining full status in 1982.

That was a five-match one-day series against England from October 1-13 in 2007, with three games being played in Dambulla, which lies in the central dry zone, and two in Colombo.

All five matches were completed, with England taking the series 3-2.

The Champions Trophy final in Colombo in 2002 was affected by rain on both September 29 and the scheduled reserve day the next day, forcing the title to be shared by India and Sri Lanka.

The Super Eights round of the World Twenty20 starts next Thursday, with the semi-finals on October 4 and 5 and the final on October 7.

Opinion

Editorial

‘Source of terror’
29 Mar, 2024

‘Source of terror’

ALTHOUGH dealing with the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan is a major political, security and strategic...
Chipping in
29 Mar, 2024

Chipping in

FEDERAL infrastructure development schemes are located in the provinces. Most such projects — for instance,...
Toxic emitters
29 Mar, 2024

Toxic emitters

IT is concerning to note that dozens of industries have been violating environmental laws in and around Islamabad....
Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...