England’s hopes of returning to winning ways at the T20 World Cup were ruined by rain as their Super 12s clash against Australia was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Melbourne.
The scheduled toss at 6.30pm local time (8.30am BST) was pushed back due to persistent rain at the MCG, which had already seen Ireland’s clash with Afghanistan at the same venue cancelled without any play.
A pitch inspection took place an hour later and the umpires returned for a second time at 8.15pm (10.15am BST) to assess the outfield, which remained extremely damp in several areas despite the rain temporarily halting.
The match was eventually abandoned after a third inspection at 9.50pm local time, shortly after another heavy shower, with the pitch deemed unsafe for any play to take place.
The decision came nearly an hour before the scheduled cut-off time, although it was decided the pitch would not have dried enough to get a minimum of five overs per side required to constitute a game.