COLOMBO, Sept 23: The International Cricket Council ICC) 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 said. “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 Sept 18 and continues till Oct 7, stayed rain-free before bad weather on Saturday affected both games in Hambantota and Colombo.

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 said. “By the first week of October, we will start getting more rains.”—AFP