T20 World Cup 2024: Groundstaff in Florida washes hands near the pitch as umpires perform inspection for USA v IRE match

Pakistan will be eliminated if USA v IRE is washed out or USA wins the match.

Groundstaff washing hands near the pitch | XUSA and Ireland are set to clash in an important T20 World Cup 2024 Group A game on June 14, 2024. This match is to be played at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill.

The match is extremely important as the USA needs to win this encounter to qualify for the Super 8s. The USA will qualify even if the match is called off due to rain, but on the other hand, Pakistan needs the match to happen and Ireland to defeat the USA.

Then Pakistan needs to defeat Ireland on Sunday to qualify for the Super 8s. In case, the USA wins or the match is called off, Pakistan is eliminated from the tournament, as they had lost to the USA in their match.

India has already qualified for the Super 8s after winning all three of their matches thus far.

Meanwhile, the toss of the US vs Ireland game which was supposed to happen at 7:30 pm IST was initially delayed by 30 minutes but after the inspection at 8 pm IST, the unsatisfied umpires and match officials decided to further delay the game by an hour.

This is because Florida experienced heavy rains before the match was scheduled and the outfield was still wet with the groundstaff trying their best to get the field good enough for the match to begin.

However, in a bizarre scene, eagle-eyed cricket fans caught a groundstaff member washing his hands on the field. The said member can be seen washing his hands as another person is pouring water from the bottle. 

In another rare instance, a special machine was seen being used by the ground staff to dry up the ground fast.

A washout today will also give USA direct entry to the 2026 T20 World Cup and Pakistan will have to play qualifiers.  

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 14 Jun, 2024

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