Following Australia's loss to New Zealand and the cancellation of Afghanistan's match against the Black Caps, Ireland's victory over England has left the Super League Group 1 of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup wide open.
As a result, Friday's encounter at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) between the defending champions Australia and their bitter rivals England is even more important for both teams as a victory will increase their prospects of moving on to the knockout phase.
The defeat against Ireland of the England team, according to captain Jos Buttler, has made the Group more competitive.
"The group is definitely open. Whether it's because of bad weather or rival teams winning, there are many potential outcomes. However, we must pick ourselves up and return to playing better cricket "Buttler made this statement at a post-game press conference following his team's embarrassing loss to Ireland on Wednesday.
At the storied Melbourne Cricket Ground, a powerful Ireland stunned 2010 champions England by five runs using the DLS technique in a Group 1 match of the Super 12 stage (MCG).
After Ireland's captain Andrew Balbirnie (62 off 47 balls) and captain Lorcan Tucker (34 off 27 balls) put together an 82-run partnership to help the team reach a respectable 157 all out in 19.2 overs, pacer Joshua Little removed England's Jos Buttler and Alex Hales to reduce England to 24/2 in four overs, laying the groundwork for a historic victory as England could only muster 105/5 in 14.3 overs.
Rain then came, giving Ireland their first two Super 12 points, and it left Group 1 wide open. Additionally, it makes England's upcoming game against its bitter foe Australia a game that must be won if England is to have any chance of making it to the semifinals.
"Yes, it is open. With the weather in the area and the teams competing against one another, I believe it is unclear how things will turn out. Again, the fact that we had every advantage in winning the toss just makes it more upsetting, especially considering that it happened today. As a result, we were fully aware of our obligations. It hurts to not take advantage of that, "Howeverler remarked.
Buttler concurred that Friday's encounter between England and Australia has grown even more important as a result of Wednesday's outcome, thus making the victor an elimination match.
"Of course, I agree. That is the focus of World Cup cricket. Naturally, we would have like to enter that game with a winning record of 2 out of 2, but due to the format of the tournament, you will eventually find yourself playing a lot of must-win games. Given that both teams have already dropped one game, Friday's game against Australia at the MCG is already a major deal ""Buttler" stated.
Buttler claimed that the loss against Ireland was "hurting" for his squad and that a failure to recover against Australia could further hurt their hopes.
Buttler bemoaned, "We've made a mistake here and that's placed even more pressure on us in a tough group. "If there was a game you needed to wake up for, it would be England-Australia at the MCG."
With a win and a no result after Wednesday's matches, New Zealand is in the lead in Group 1. Australia, England, Ireland, and Sri Lanka all have two points, however they are listed from second to fifth. With a superior Net Run Rate of 0.45, Sri Lanka comes in second, ahead of England (0.239), Ireland (-1.169), and Australia (-1.555).
This puts the side that loses in Friday's match between England and Australia in an even more difficult situation, barring any additional surprises or no-results, like Sri Lanka and Ireland winning all of their remaining games.
It has given Australia control over their destiny once more, but Aaron Finch's team can only relax after defeating their opponent on Friday by a wide margin and raising their NRR.
The weather is still an unknowable component of the equation, though. More washouts or abbreviated games are likely due to the La Nina event currently affecting Australia, which might add drama to the already roiling situation.
The likelihood of underdog teams pulling off upsets only grows as the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern technique is used in more games.
Even though they currently appear to be in a decent position, Australia, England, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka cannot assume anything in this situation.