The eighth edition of the T20 World Cup got underway in Australia earlier this month. It has been an exciting tournament so far, with plenty of upsets: West Indies failed to reach Super 12, hosts Australia stunned in their Super 12 opener by New Zealand, and Ireland writing another chapter in their memorable wins over England; and the thrill of the India-Pakistan epic clash continues to hog the fans’ minds.
Another talking point throughout the tournament has been – wait, wait – RAIN. Even before the tournament had started on October 16, there were talks and concerns regarding rain not just making its appearance during the course of the tournament, but also affecting matches and results.
And the worries turned into reality: several matches in the preliminary qualifying round and the ongoing Super 12 have been impacted by rain, with two games getting washed out and another forcing an early end to the England-Ireland game which saw Ireland being just 5 runs ahead on DLS.
So, why is it raining so much in Australia during the T20 World Cup 2022?
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology had predicted heavier than average rains at the beginning of the summer in the country due to the Niña weather event – which is cooling of the sea surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial region of the central Pacific Ocean.
Well, it’s no ICC tournament curse as we have seen during tournaments in England. But it is the La Niña that has hit the east and south-eastern Australia. This has affected matches at venues Hobart, Sydney and Melbourne so far.
There was a “90% chance of any rain that day” on the day of the India-Pakistan encounter in Melbourne; thankfully, we got a full game and one to remember for a lifetime.
In the coming days, the tournament will move to Brisbane and Adelaide. The Bureau of Meteorology has asserted that this year’s La Niña event may not last all summer, but it still would still have an impact on the remainder of the T20 World Cup 2022.
“At the moment, this La Niña isn’t looking particularly strong and it’s looking like it will peak probably fairly early in the summer or late in the spring,” Andrew Watkins, head of long-range forecasting, told the ABC. “Which is a little bit unusual, a little bit different to the La Niñas that we’ve been seeing in recent years.”
Which teams have suffered because of rain so far in T20 World Cup 2022?
South Africa were left heartbroken when rain affected another of their ICC games. Against Zimbabwe, in an already curtained match, South Africa needed just 13 more runs having smashed 51 off 3 overs, but the rain didn’t allow any more play to happen, and despite being ahead of the 5-overs DLS score, the match was abandoned because to constitute a T20I game, both teams should bat at least 5 overs each.
New Zealand and Afghanistan also have had to share a point each because of their game being washed out.
