Australia vs England, Melbourne Weather Live Updates: Will rain play spoilsport in T20 World Cup 2022 match?

T20 World Cup 2022: All eyes are on Melbourne's weather forecast as Australia and England are set to play a potential blockbuster Super 12 match at the MCG on Friday. The morning match between Ireland and Afghanistan was washed out due to rain in Melbourne.

Australia vs England: Will rain play spoilsport in Melbourne on Friday? (AP Photo)

By India Today Web Desk: Australia and England are set to face-off in a blockbuster T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 contest on Friday, October 28 but the weather forecast for Friday in Melbourne suggests rain may play spoilsport. It's a crucial contest for both the pre-tournament favourites as a win would further their chances of reaching the semi-finals from the Group 1, which is also labelled as the Group of Death.

As of Friday, both Australia and England are not in the top 2 with New Zealand leading Group 1 of Super 12 points table while Ireland are at the 2nd spot. Both Australia and England would want the T20 World Cup match on Friday to go ahead as 2 points will be crucial to their chances of progressing.

2:55 pm IST: Next inspection at 3:20 pm IST. It looks like we are gearing up closer to a start time.

2:20 pm IST: Another inspection at 2:45 pm IST. The rain has stopped and the ground staff is working to get the ground ready for the big-ticket contest.

2 pm IST: Good news, the covers have been taken off. The setting sun is visible from the ground. An inspection is set to take place at 2:15 pm IST. However, the outfield has taken a lot of water due to the rain in the morning. The ground staff have to do some hard work here.

The cut-off for a 5-over match is 4:15 pm IST.

The first game of the day between Afghanistan and Ireland, which was also at Melbourne, was washed out without a ball bowled due to rain. There was persistent rain in the morning and even the toss did not take place as scheduled. A handful of fans had turned up for the morning match and all that they could watch was visuals of ground staff moving around the ground and umpires and players waiting with umbrellas.

Star spinner Rashid Khan took time out to click some selfies and sign autographs for fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the second successive abandonment due to rain for Afghanistan as their second Super 12 match against New Zealand was washed out in Melbourne on Wednesday.

According to the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology, there is 75 to 95 percent chance of rain in Melbourne on Friday. "Cloudy. Very high (95%) chance of showers in the southeast suburbs, a high (70%) chance elsewhere. Winds westerly 25 to 35 km/h," the forecast for October 28 in Melbourne reads.

On the other hand, the situation might improve in the evening with AccuWeather predicting cloudy weather in Melbourne from 7 pm IST. The match between Australia and England is set to get underway from 7 pm local time and 1:30 pm IST.

However, it remains to be seen whether the rain in the morning affected the outfield. Reports coming in from Melbourne suggest that there's hard work for the groundstaff to get the ground ready for a match.

Incidentally, India and Pakistan put on a thrilling show of 40 overs in their Group 2 Super 12 opener at the MCG on Sunday as the weather gods decided that the clouds would stay away for the blockbuster clash.