'What a shambles' - Michael Vaughan lambastes ICC for not scheduling reserve day for semi-finals

A rainy day was expected at the Sydney Cricket Ground and the fact that there were no reserve days for the World Cup semi-finals created upset in the English camp. As expected, the torrential downpour played spoilsport and the semi-final between India and England got washed out without a ball being bowled. India Women qualified for their maiden final at the Women’s T20 World Cup on Thursday.

India cruised to the final after entering the knockout stages as the Group A toppers as they managed to win all the four games beating the likes of Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the group stage thanks to some spectacular individual performances from opener Shafali Verma, and spinners Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gaekwad, Radha Yadav and Deepti Sharma.

On the other end of the spectrum, England had a better net run-rate as compared to India but the loss against South Africa in their opening fixture proved to be the decisive factor as they crashed out of the tournament after having won three games out of the four games in the group stage.

India will now lock horns with the winners of the second semi-final contest between South Africa and Australia, which will be played at the same venue. But with possibilities of rain predicted throughout the matchday in Sydney and with no reserve day scheduled, South Africa would make it through to the final after winning Group B if the fixture was not completed.

Australia have already lost to India in the group stage and this makes it quite obvious that South Africa have all the possibility to make it to the final in case the semi-final is washed out. If this happens then the Women’s T20 World Cup will see two first-time finalists aiming for a maiden world title in limited-overs cricket. The intriguing final is scheduled to take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCC) on March 8.

Michael Vaughan indirectly slams ICC

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan lashed out at the International Cricket Council (ICC) for not scheduling a reserve day for the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals. An unbeaten Indian women’s team looked to cross swords with a confident England side only to find out that rain was going to play spoilsport in the semi-final contest.

Michael Vaughan took to Twitter to vent out his frustration. He wrote, “No reserve days for World Cup semi Finals … What a shambles … !! #T20WorldCup.”

No reserve days for World Cup semi Finals … What a shambles … !! #T20WorldCup

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 5, 2020

Michael Vaughan’s tweet went viral on social media with the majority of the netizens calling it as a ‘karma’ reminding him how the England men’s cricket team won the ICC World Cup 2019 against New Zealand based on boundary count rule.

“All you muppets saying it’s karma, do one … At least the England men’s team had to produce skill on the day … to not have a chance to produce skill and it to be taken away by the weather is a shambles … anyway Morning everyone #T20WorldCup,” Michael Vaughan wrote.

All you muppets saying it’s karma,do one … At least the England men’s team had to produce skill on the day … to not have a chance to produce skill and it to be taken away by the weather is a shambles … anyway Morning everyone #T20WorldCup

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 5, 2020