Rain wrecks third T20I between England and Pakistan

England and Pakistan will head to the T20 World Cup short on match practice after persistent rain wiped out Tuesday night’s match between them in Cardiff without a ball being bowled. It is the second abandonment of the series after the weather ruined Wednesday’s series opener in Leeds, with only 39.2 of the 120 scheduled overs bowled so far.

Jos Buttler, England’s captain, did not travel to Cardiff and Moeen Ali would have led their side in his place if the game had taken place. Buttler left the squad on Saturday night following England’s 23-run win in Birmingham and travelled to London to be with his wife Louise, with the couple expecting their third child imminently.

Mark Wood was due to play his first match since early March for England, while Sam Curran would also have featured after being left out on Saturday at Edgbaston. ESPNcricinfo understands that Jofra Archer would have been rested, with England taking a cautious approach to his workload after such a long injury lay-off.

Buttler is expected to travel to Barbados with the rest of the England squad on Friday, and could even return to the squad in time to play in the final match of the series at The Oval on Thursday night. As things stand, the weather forecast for south London is not hugely promising as both sides hope for a final run-out before they travel, though should at least allow for a shortened match.

With neither side due to play an official warm-up match between Thursday and their respective opening group-stage fixtures, they will be relatively undercooked compared to some teams at the World Cup. Pakistan have at least played regularly in this format recently, drawing 2-2 with New Zealand in April and beating Ireland 2-1 earlier this month; Saturday’s match was England’s only T20I since December 21.

There was heavy rain early on Tuesday morning in Cardiff, which continued for much of the day. It briefly stopped during the afternoon but returned at around 5.15pm, repeatedly delaying the toss until umpires Mike Burns and Russell Warren abandoned the match at 8.12pm, much to the disappointment of a sold-out crowd.

(Cricinfo)