Dejected Knight calls for rule change after T20 WC exit

India entered the final by virtue of topping its group in the round-robin stage of the tournament while England were ousted as they had finished second in their pool. ICC regulations dictate that in the event of a semi-final washout, the winner of each group automatically goes through to the final in Melbourne on Sunday. The world body had earlier declined Cricket Australia’s request for a reserve day.

“They’re the rules that everyone signed up to,” Knight said of the absence of a reserve day. “You would hope now that there has been this situation and the game tonight is potentially going to be rained off as well, so you’d hope now there is going to be a rule change and moving forward, no other team will have to experience going out of a World Cup purely because of rain,” she said after the abandonment of the game.

“Hopefully it changes,” she added. The result left England players in tears. “It’s gutting. you put in a lot of hard work. There’s not a lot we can do about it. We are just going to have to rue that first game and try to move on but it’s going to be a bitter pill to swallow for a few of us now.”

Disappointment was writ large on the faces of England players as their campaign ended without them getting a chance to take the field. Its opening-game loss against South Africa ultimately proved vital as it finished second in the group.

Knight also believed that the tournament was great for the women’s game overall. “It’s sad for the tournament. You’ve got four really good teams competing, hoping to play some really good cricket. That’s taken away from us but I’m sure the final will be a great event,” Knight said.

“It’ll be great day and game for the sport. I’ll be there as a fan,” she said.