Sydney, March 5: India have qualified for the final of the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup after their semi-final clash against England got washed out at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday. Persistent rain since morning delayed the toss and eventually the semi-final had to be called off without a ball being bowled.
India have made it to their first-ever T20 World Cup final by virtue of finishing at the top of the points table in Group A with eight points. After defeating defending champions Australia in the opening game, they didn't look back and registered comprehensive wins against Bangladesh, New Zealand and Sri Lanka to finish the group at the top.
England, on the other hand, had finished Group B at the second spot with six points.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur expressed disappointment after the game got cancelled and said: "It is unfortunate not to get a game due to the weather. But that's how the rules go. In future, it would be nice to have a reserve day. From day one, we knew that we have to win all the games because if in case we don't get any play in the semi-finals, it will be hard for us."
Harmanpreet also credited the team for their comprehensive wins in the group stage and hoped they would be able to replicate the performance in the final to be played at the MCG on Sunday, which co-incides with the International Women's Day.
"As a team, we just want to go out there and play our best cricket. I feel that if we can play our best cricket, we will have a strong chance. We aren't thinking about whom we want to face and just focusing on our game," she said.
Meanwhile, England captain Heather Knight said it was frustrating for her team as they didn't want their World Cup campaign to end in such a manner.
"It's frustrating. We didn't want the World Cup to end this way but not much you can do about this. It would have been good to have a reserve day perhaps," Heather said.
Earlier, Cricket Australia had made a last-minute request of having a reserve day for the semi-finals. Cricket Australia's chief executive Kevin Roberts on Wednesday revealed that the request was made to the ICC, which the apex body declined.
India will face the winner of the other semi-final between Australia and South Africa to be played at the same venue.