At the Men's T20 World Cup in Australia, a game was postponed because of rain for the second time this week. There was some play between South Africa and Zimbabwe in Hobart before the weather gods won out.
Wednesday was New Zealand and Afghanistan's first opportunity to play, let alone show up for the toss at the storied Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Eventually, rain forced the Super 12 Group 1 match to be called off, with the sides splitting the points.
New Zealand, the Group 1 leaders, were anticipated to play Afghanistan in an exciting match after their smashing 89-run victory over hosts and defending champions Australia in their tournament opener at Sydney. Afghanistan battled hard before losing to England by five wickets at Perth.
The start of the New Zealand-Afghanistan game was delayed by 30 minutes because the Ireland-England game was still going on. However, after Ireland's dramatic five-run victory at the MCG using the DLS technique, the second game of the day entered losing overs territory due to the persistent downpour.
After the inspection at 8:20 p.m. local time, the rain stopped, raising the possibility of a shortened game. But as the rain started up again, covers appeared on the field. Many people felt there was a slim chance the game would happen when the inspection was moved to 9 o'clock. However, the rain returned in full force, causing the game to be formally called off without a ball being bowled.
Because of the abandoned game and Ireland's victory against England, Group 1 is currently very competitive. Due to their higher net run rate, New Zealand remains in first place in the group with three points and would bet on their prospects of making it to the semifinals.
Prior to the pivotal Australia-England encounter, they will play Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday. Afghanistan will then travel back to Melbourne to play Ireland on Friday.