Why was the start of the IND vs ENG 2024 T20 World Cup semifinal delayed?
The highly anticipated India vs England 2024 T20 World Cup semifinal at the Providence Stadium in Guyana was delayed due to rain on Thursday, June 27. The toss took place 80 minutes after the scheduled time, with the match beginning at 9:15pm IST. The winner will face South Africa in the tournament final in Barbados on Saturday, June 29.
India will progress to the final if the game gets washed out because the Men in Blue finished at the top of their group table in the Super Eight. England finished second behind South Africa in the other group.
Weather Forecast in Guyana during the match:
![Guyana Weather Forecast during IND vs ENG T20 World Cup semifinal. [Pic credits: BBC]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/06/9f15f-17195039847222-1920.jpg?w=500)
The two teams are playing in a repeat of the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal, where eventual champions England beat India by 10 wickets in Adelaide. The Jos Buttler-led side will be keen to make it back-to-back finals, while Rohit Sharma and Co. will look to avenge that defeat.
England win toss and opt to bowl against India in 2024 T20 World Cup semifinal
England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and chose to bowl against India in the 2024 T20 World Cup semifinal on Thursday. At the toss, Buttler said:
“We'll bowl first. Looks like a good surface, the bounce will be low, with the rain around, we thought it'll be a bit of an advantage to bowl first. We're up against a great team, but we're peaking nicely and we are playing the same team today."
"Looking forward to a great challenge against a top side. Excited to be in a semi-final, but some of us have been here before,” he added.
On the other hand, Rohit said that he wished to bat first and put England under pressure by posting a decent target. He said:
“We would have batted first, the weather looks good, whatever had to happen, it has already happened. We wanted to put runs on the board. The pitch tends to get slower as the game goes on. Same team for us.”
At the time of writing, India were 29-1 after four overs, with Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant at the crease. Reece Topley cleaned up Virat Kohli for a run-a-ball nine.
India beat Australia by 24 runs in their last outing, while England thrashed co-hosts USA by 10 wickets.
Follow the IND vs ENG 2024 T20 World Cup live score and updates here.