ICC T20 World Cup Final | Match officials announced for England-Pakistan clash as rain threat looms

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced the match official appointments for the title clash between Pakistan and England in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

England will take on Pakistan in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the MCG in Melbourne on November 13. Umpires Marais Erasmus and Kumar Dharmasena will assume on-field duties in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 to be played at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Chris Gaffaney will be the TV umpire for the match while Paul Reiffel will be the fourth umpire. Talking about the team, England is in great form which helped them evidently dismiss India in the semi-final.

They completely batted the Asian giants out of contention to knock them out of the competition, and will now look forward to carrying on their blistering form against Pakistan as well.

On the other hand, Pakistan had a rollercoaster campaign in the T20 World Cup. Pakistan’s success in the games after suffering defeats in their opening encounters with India and Zimbabwe is largely dependent on the starts given by their new ball attack. Among all the teams that have played in this T20 World Cup, Pakistan has the second-finest Powerplay economy rate (6.19) and an average of (18.58).

Rain threat looms

The ICC T20 World Cup final between England and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, however, faces a rain threat with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting a 95% chance of showers for Melbourne on November 13 on Friday.

Cricket fans worldwide have been waiting for the pinnacle of the T20 World Cup, but might be forced to see the final either being pushed to the reserve day or the possibility of the cup being shared by the two teams. There is currently a 95% chance of rain forecast for Sunday with between 8 to 20 mm of rain falling.

“Cloudy. Very high (near 100%) chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm, possibly severe. Light winds becoming north to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h during the morning then tending north to northwesterly during the day,” the Bureau of Meteorology predicted on Friday morning. The weather for the reserve day, Monday, November 14 isn’t encouraging either with the possibility of 95% rain on the day.

“Cloudy. Very high (95%) chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. The possibility of a thunderstorm. Winds northwesterly at 15 to 20 km/h turning west to southwesterly at 25 to 40 km/h during the morning then becoming westerly at 15 to 25 km/h during the evening,” is the predicted weather by the Bureau of Meteorology for Monday in Melbourne.

The tournament has been plagued by rain with matches being washed out without a ball being bowled. Sunday’s final could meet the same fate, which will be a tragic end to probably the best T20 World Cup in history; owing to the fact that it saw unexpected results and was full of twists.