Pakistan’s chances of qualification for Super 8 at the T20 World Cup rest on two games: USA vs Ireland and Pakistan vs Ireland. Both games are at to be played at Lauderhill in Florida. (PHOTO: AP)
Pakistan’s chances of qualifying for the Super 8 stage at the ongoing T20 World Cup were always going to be on tricky terrain after they were shocked by the host nation USA in their opening encounter.
Their defeat to India in the second game — where they could have easily won after restricting India to 119 runs in the first innings — was particularly hard to take. But Pakistan managed to bounce back by defeating Canada. However, Pakistan still have a mountain to climb in the coming days. And it will tricky because of the weather conditions in Lauderhill, the Florida city which will host the most crucial games of Group A.
The Central Broward Park & Broward County Stadium, Lauderhill is to host the following games:
USA vs Ireland: June 14 (Friday)
India vs Canada: June 15 (Saturday)
Pakistan vs Ireland: June 16 (Sunday)
Recently, the same venue saw Sri Lanka’s must-win game against Nepal being abandoned because of heavy rain and flood warnings in Lauderhill.
The washout left Sri Lanka hanging by a thread. Now it seems that Pakistan could face the same fate.
Weather forecast for Lauderhill, Florida
“A weather system has brought South Florida excessive rain yesterday (Tuesday) and today. It is likely to continue through Friday. The City Of Lauderhill has crews working in areas of concern to help minimize ponding,” a press note on the official website of the city of Lauderhill states.
Lauderhill is right next to Fort Lauderdale in Florida. According to media reports from USA, the southern part of Florida is witnessing rare flash flood emergency.
According to a report on The Associated Press, “Wednesday’s downpours and subsequent flooding blocked roads, floated vehicles and delayed the Florida Panthers on their way to Stanley Cup games in Canada against the Edmonton Oilers… Numerous roads were flooded and impassable for vehicles. On major artery Interstate 95 in Broward County, southbound traffic was being diverted around a flooded section and contractors were on their way to pump the drainage system.”
According to the National Weather Service, all of South Florida is under a Flood Watch through Friday evening.
On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also declared a state of emergency for five counties, including Broward, where the city of Lauderhill is based.
How Florida rains could affect Pakistan’s chances?
After USA lost to India with 10 balls to spare, net run rates will not come into play to decide the fate of the second placed team in Group A (where India have already assured themselves top spot). Pakistan are ahead of USA on NRR — Pakistan have 0.191 while USA have 0.127). Pakistan can qualify simply by beating Ireland and watching USA lose to them.
But, Team USA can still qualify if they get even a single point. Which means that if their game versus Ireland gets washed out, they will seal qualification. Similarly, if the Pakistan game gets washed out and Pakistan gain just one point, USA will qualify.
Get latest updates on T20 World Cup along with live score updates for all matches.
