Rain falls on the Sydney Cricket Ground delaying the start of the Women’s T20 World Cup cricket semifinal matches in Sydney (Source: AP)

The semifinal between India and England in the Women’s T20 World Cup was washed out at the SCG on Thursday, leading to India qualifying for the final on the basis of having finished higher on the points table in the league stage. Under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur, India have reached the final of T20 World Cup for the first time.

The match was called off without a ball being bowled. There was no reserved day for the tie. There had been a cut-off time of 4:51 pm (11:21 AM IST) to start a 10-over match, the minimum number of overs required for a shortened game.

In the group stage, India had won all their four matches and topped Group B. England had lost one of their matches – to South Africa – and had thus qualified for the semifinals as the second-placed team in Group A.

“Really frustrating. Not how we wanted the World Cup to finish for us. No reserve day, no chance of getting play, and ultimately that loss against South Africa cost us,” a dejected England captain Heather Knight said after the game was abandoned.

“Unfortunate we didn’t get a game, but there are rules and we have to follow it. Having reserve days in the future will be a great idea,” said Kaur in the post-match presentation.

Rain pelted the SCG from Thursday morning and continued till late afternoon, forcing the match to be abandoned and England to exit from the World Cup on the basis of their inferior group stage record.

Match abandoned without a ball being bowled.

A gutting way for our #T20WorldCup journey to end.#WeAreEngland pic.twitter.com/xXROAIU9j4

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 5, 2020

India will play in the final against the winner of the second semifinal – between South Africa and Australia – in Melbourne on Sunday.