Florida weatherwatch: Last three Group A games set to be affected

The weather may have a big part to play at the T20 World Cup 2024 over the coming days in Florida, where three Group A matches are scheduled over the next three days. A tropical disturbance has brought a rare flash flood emergency to much of southern Florida, including in Broward County where the venue for the matches - in Lauderhill - is located.

The first World Cup match at the venue - Nepal vs Sri Lanka - was washed out, and three more fixtures - USA vs Ireland, Canada vs India and Ireland vs Pakistan - could also be affected, with the forecast suggesting heavy rain all through.

According to the US National Weather Service (NWS), a "flood watch" remains in effect for all of southern Florida through Friday evening. The matches are set to be played at 10.30am local time.

"Heavy to excessive rainfall over southern Florida may continue to bring areas of flash and urban flooding, with locally considerable urban flooding possible, at times into this weekend," the NWS posted on X.

While India have sealed their Super Eight spot after beating USA on Wednesday, the rest of the teams in Group A - USA, Canada, Ireland and Pakistan - will be fighting it out for the other spot.

As things stand, all four teams can still mathematically qualify.

The 2022 T20 World Cup finalists Pakistan have won just one of their three games so far, but can go through to the next round if they beat Ireland and USA lose to them. If either of these is washed out, then USA, who have two wins, will qualify. Canada (one win from three) and Ireland (no wins from two) are lower on the table.

The washout on June 11 affected Group D as well, leaving Sri Lanka and Nepal on the brink of elimination.

A minimum of five overs is required to constitute a match and there are no reserve days for the group-stage matches. The first semi-final and the final have reserve days but the second semi-final doesn't, as there is only a day's gap between that match and the final.