England and Pakistan face a major rain threat |Courtesy-Yorkshire Cricket Club
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- England will face Pakistan in the first T20I
- Heavy rain has hit Headingly
- A washout looks likely
England and Pakistan will sharpen up their preparations for the 2024 T20 World Cup as the finalists of the 2022 edition go head-to-head in a four-match T20I series. The series opener will take place at the Headingley Cricket Stadium in Leeds on Wednesday (May 22), with the match scheduled to start at 11:00 PM IST.
However, the game faces a major threat due to rain in Leeds on the day of the match. Updates from the ground in the morning have suggested that heavy rain has hit the stadium, with a full 20-over match looking extremely unlikely.
As per weather.com, there is unlikely to be improvement in the weather over the course of the day, and a washout looks like a possibility. The match is set to start at 6:30 PM local time, and there are around 99% chances of rain for the match. Realistically, it will need a miracle for a match to happen.
England vs Pakistan 1st T20I Weather Report
It is worth noting that the ground has already taken a lot of rain since morning, and even if there is a stoppage, it will take a herculean task for the groundsmen to stop the rain.
Even if this game is a washout, the teams will still have three matches to play against each other and hope to get quality practice before the T20 World Cup. The series will move to Birmingham for the second T20I on May 25, before the third and fourth games in Cardiff and the Oval in London on May 28 and 30.
With this series ending just two days before the T20 World Cup starts on June 1, the two teams do not have any warm-up matches.