World Cup 2019: British Met Department provide update ahead of India-New Zealand clash

What's the story?

India will take on New Zealand in the first semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at the Old Trafford cricket stadium in Manchester on Tuesday.

The weather forecast suggests that rain might play a role in the crucial semi-final encounter between the Men in Blue and the Kiwis.

In case you didn't know...

The ongoing World Cup has already seen four matches abandoned due to rain, the most in the history of the prestigious tournament. Australia, England, and Afghanistan are the only teams who have played all their matches in the round-robin league format.

Virat Kohli and co. earlier missed their league-stage encounter against the Kiwis at the Trent Bridge as the match was abandoned without the toss due to excessive rain.

The two-time World Cup winners India finished on top of the points table with 15 points in 9 matches. On the other hand, Kane Williamson and co. have finished fourth with 11 points in 9 matches. After missing their fixture in the league format due to rain, the two teams will lock horns in Manchester in the semi-finals.

The heart of the matter

The British Met Department stated that rain might play a part in India's semi-final clash against New Zealand as their report said:

"Most areas on Sunday will be dry with spells of sunshine, the longest of these likely towards the coast. Cloud may bubble up inland to produce a few showers over the hills. Maximum temperature of 20 °C.”

The forecast also claimed that there are 50% chances of rain in Manchester at 10 AM, Tuesday

ICC has kept a reserve day to avoid the rains ruining the matches. However, if the rain doesn't allow the match to take place on the match-day or the reserve day, Virat Kohli and co. will automatically qualify for the final as they finished higher than the Kiwis on the points table.

What's next?

Fans of cricket all around the world would be hoping that rain does not play spoilsports and that we can witness a complete, uninterrupted semi-finals clash between India and New Zealand.

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