England vs Ireland, 10th Match, Group D at Providence, May 04 2010 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Well, on that rain-sodden note it's goodbye from your commentary team - Sahil Dutta and Liam Brickhill. Andrew Miller's bulletin will be up presently, but, alas, it will be somewhat incomplete due to the inclement weather in Guyana. Do join us tomorrow for Cricinfo's coverage of Australia v Bangladesh and South Africa v Afghanistan. There's still time for an upset in this tournament, and let's just hope that we can get two full games in! Until then, goodbye.

So England head through and, barring an upset in tomorrow's games, will be in the same group as India, Sri Lanka and Australia. Ireland put up a spirited performance in this game and would have fancied having a crack at a gettable total, but they have been thwarted by the weather. England would also have felt that, on this wicket, 120 was defendable, and we would have had a cracker of a match, were it not for the weather.

4.45pm Right, the game is off, and, with each team getting one point, England go through to the Super Eights courtesy of their superior net run-rate, Ireland are out. The players are shaking hands, and what a pity the game has ended like this. Both sides will have felt they could have won this game outright.

Consolations for Vic, from Pete in Australia: "Vic, at least you're not in a dry spell mate!" Oh, what we'd do for a dry spell in Guyana!

Rick, rightfully, is telling me to pull myself together: "Blaspheme! - for goodness sakes man, pull yourself together. At least the airports are open..."

"The rain is making cricket like my relationships," writes Vic, hilariously. "Nobody is sure what's going on!"

4.35pm It. Is. Raining. Again. One might almost be driven to blaspheme, this is so frustrating.

4.34pm Right, we should have a 4.45pm start, and it'll be a nine-over chase. Will let you know the target as soon as I do.

4.32pm "Stumps are in, covers are off..." Gnasher tells us. "No target news yet." Although we should have a re-start in 15 minutes if there is no further rain. Mm. Likely, that.

4.28pm Rain is easing, covers coming off once more! And 4.59pm is the cut-off point for play to resume, so we have half an hour. Which should leave enough time to get nine overs in...

"How about the next World 20-20 in Antarctica? Sure it won't rain there..." suggests Digish, helpfully. It is a farcical situation though, and, as Gnasher tells us "Meanwhile, Father Christmas is in the stands...no, I don't know why either."

4.23pm Crikey, on come the covers again as the rain returns.

4.12pm Cross your fingers, covers coming off! No news on when we'll have a start though. Apparently the umpires are trying to work out how much time has been lost, how many overs can be fit in, and thus what the target will be. Trying to work it all out is a Kafka-esque task...

4.09pm Not sure what's going on at the ground at the moment, the rain appears to be clearing somewhat though, and I'll let you know developments as soon as anything happens. We are definitely losing overs now, so there will be changes to Ireland's target.

There are rainclouds all round the ground, so it's hard to tell how long this rain will last. It appears to be easing already but we may now start losing overs, meaning the target score will be altered as well

What a shame, it's raining heavily again and the players are coming off as the covers come on. Ireland needed 27 in 5 on D/L, but we've only had three and a bit overs so far

The rain is coming down again!

Sidebottom continues...

The lights are on at the ground now

Two slips for Bresnan now

The umpires are heading back out onto the field, closely followed by the players, and it appears that play is only moments away. And the good news is, no overs have been lost so we still have a full game with the same target here!

3.42pm Indeed, it is much, much brighter now and the covers are almost entirely off. There's still rain around, but it seems to have swung past the ground for now.

3.38pm Good news! "Rain seems to have stopped, for now at least, but some very dark clouds still around," Gnasher tells us from the ground. "Covers coming off."

3.33pm If the match is washed out entirely, which, I must say, still seems unlikely at this point, England will go through on superior net run rate after Ireland's dismal showing in their first game against West Indies. It's far more likely that we'll get play with an altered target though, bringing D/L into play and making everything infinitely more complicated.

3.26pm The rain appears to have eased off a little, but the ground is very dark and there appear to be several stormclouds circling. More covers are coming out now too, covering the square and the bowlers' run-ups.

Well well well... Will Duckworth/Lewis come in to play once again? We still have half an hour's grace before we start losing overs, and the rain is already starting to ease.

It's really bucketing down now, and the covers are coming out... And Andy Flower is thumping his desk in frustration as the players run off the field. It'll be an anxious England dressing room at the moment.

And its starting to rain now...

And it'll be Sidebottom to start proceedings from the other end. Will he find some swing with the new ball?

Thanks, Sahil. All Ireland need is one heroic innings from their top order. Here we go...