Ever since the start of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in England, we had seen a lot of matches were affected by rain and the fans, by now are furious about ICC conducting the tournament in England knowing the climate and weather at the time.
By the way, the fans are used to various stoppages and delay in play. And finally, the tournament is set to enter its business end with India vs. Pakistan final at the Oval on Sunday. If the rain stops the play of the finals, it will be an absolute disgrace.
The Champions Trophy 2017 will witness India – Pakistan clash after a gap of 9 years and only the 2nd time in an ICC event with the first one being the 2007 World T20 final. Both the Indian fans and Pakistani fans are expecting a cracker of a game.
However, the England weather might not allow the big game to get through without any interruptions like it was in the semi-finals. The 2nd semi-final started with rain but luckily it didn’t return at any point in time to halt play. However, as per the forecast of The Oval, the venue of the final on June 18th showers are expected throughout the afternoon.
The Champions Trophy final might see “fine and settled conditions persisting”, according to forecasters. Meteorologists add that temperatures will be increasing throughout the day, with plenty of sunshine. Temperatures could reach as high as 29C by 4 pm, according to experts.
“The only positive factor is that the Champions Trophy final has a reserve day and the match can be continued from the point where the game is paused on the actual match day or can start fresh if the game is washed out completely without a ball being bowled.”
- If the minimum overs mandatory for a result are not completed even on the reserve day, then both India and Pakistan teams will end up sharing the Champions Trophy title.
- And another possible result is a match getting the tie. If the match gets tied, then the teams will be playing the Super Over and even if that is not possible due to weather, then the title will be shared.
Earlier, in 2002, we had seen two teams sharing the Champions Trophy and they are India and Sri Lanka as the final was washed out on an actual day and on the reserve day as well.