Steve Smith looks dejected as rain delayed play against England. (Source: Reuters)
After England defeated Australia courtesy of DLS, the team from down under will join their Trans-Tasman rivals-New Zealand and catch the next flight home. However, one thing that they will rue are the rain gods becoming their nemesis in this edition of the Champions Trophy. Incidentally, the Aussies had all their three matches interrupted by rain which turned the results against their favour.
Their three matches were held at Kennington Oval, London and Edgbaston, Birmingham and all the three were interrupted by rain. While two of those were completely washed out, in the third and most crucial match against England rain once more turned the tide against the visitors.-Australia was in a commanding position with England tottering at 35/3. That was until thunderstorms stopped play and the momentum slipped out of the from the hands of the Aussies.
What will be frustrating the team from down under is that in their second match against Bangladesh they were on the cusp of victory until thunderstorms stopped play and forced the match to be abandoned. This also frustrated Australian coach Darren Lehmann who claimed that since, at this time of year in England, there is wet weather on offer, one should just play.
“I think we’ve just got to be more liberal to play some cricket. The fans want to see a result,” Lehmann said. “Especially this time of year in England, you can get (wet) weather. So it’s a case of if it’s not raining or it’s drizzling, we should just play.”
He cited the example of Twenty20 cricket where matches continued in light rain.
“My view is simple – play as much cricket as you can, where you possibly can,” said the 47-year-old. “You have to consider the safety of the players. That’s important and umpires and match referees take that into account.”, he concluded.
