England-Australia match washed out by rain in Melbourne

KABUL (Pajhwok): England and Australia match in the ongoing Men's T20 World Cup in Melbourne was washed out without a ball being bowled leaving Group 1 wide open.

England are currently second in the table, level on points with leaders New Zealand and Ireland, whose game against Afghanistan was washed out earlier.

Australia also have three points but are in fourth on net run-rate.

Afghanistan are bottom with two no-results and a defeat but still have a slim hope of progressing.

England's chances were thrown into peril by their shock loss to Ireland on Tuesday and would have been all-but out of the tournament had they lost to Ashes rivals Australia, with a crowd of 60,000 expected for one of the tournament's showpiece games.

The hosts would also have effectively been out had they lost.

But persistent afternoon rain left the outfield saturated and, despite a two-hour period without rain, the match was called off to boos from those inside the ground at 20:48 local time, with the playing surface deemed unfit for play.

It was a disappointing scene but prevented the situation of one of the two teams being knocked out of a World Cup in a manic five-over shootout.

England captain Jos Buttler said: "They [the umpires] had some big concerns and I think rightly so because the outfield was very wet and there were some areas in the 30-yard circle that were not fit to play. "As much as we all want to play cricket it has to be safe and it certainly wasn't that."

England next play New Zealand on Tuesday in Brisbane before meeting Sri Lanka in Sydney on Saturday 5 November.

Their simplest route to a top-two finish would be to win both games and hope Australia do not overhaul their sizeable net run-rate advantage in games against Ireland and Afghanistan.

In England's favour is the fact their meeting with Sri Lanka is the last in the group so, if they can overcome the Black Caps, Jos Buttler's side will have a clear picture of the net run-rate requirements.

Ireland will still hope to qualify, although their remaining games are difficult encounters against Australia and New Zealand.

New Zealand and Sri Lanka meet on Saturday in Sydney. The winner will take pole position at the top of the group.

"We are still in the competition and know, to a certain degree, we have our destiny in our own hands," Buttler said. "There is still lots of confidence in the group. We have some great players who are determined to right some wrongs from the other night [against Ireland]."

Afghanistan will play their fourth match in the tournament against Sari Lanka on November 1.

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