The Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados - the home of cricket in the Caribbean is set to be the host to the final of probably one of the best ICC Men's T20 World Cup editions. It's India vs South Africa, a final that not many expected but it is and fitting that the two best bowling attacks of the tournament are playing for the title. This is South Africa's first men's World Cup final and hence, an uncharted territory but for India, they have seen more heartbreaks than wins and hope that it falls in the latter category.
This is the seventh time India and South Africa are playing in T20 World Cups and the former have had an upper hand with four wins but the Proteas beat them comfortably on a spicy Perth wicket, the last time these two sides met.
Barbados has generally produced a good contest between both bat and ball and India having played and won a game at this venue will take the confidence from the same while South Africa are yet to play a game here in the ongoing tournament. However, the conditions might change drastically because of the overhead conditions on the island over the weekend as there is heavy rain predicted on the day of the final, Saturday, June 29.
As per Accuweather, the weather in Bridgetown, Barbados has improved a lot over the last couple of days. There was an early morning shower on the eve of the final with high intensity, however, strangely it took place in the other side of the island near the airport area while it was completely dry at the stadium in Bridgetown with sun peeping through and a similar forecast is there for Saturday as well.
At around 6 AM local time (3:30 PM IST), the rain probability is around 51 per cent with the forecast showing a thunderstorm. The exact same forecast continues for a couple of hours till 8 AM local time, before the rain probability reduces to 47 per cent at 9 AM, which is around 1.5 hours before the scheduled first ball of the match. The forecast is cloudy at 10 AM and the rain probability is 29 per cent, which is a colossal improvement from 75 per cent which the forecast showed in the last couple of days.
The rain probability rises to 35 per cent at 12 PM but the radar shows the weather as cloudy and the only real rain prediction during the match hours is at around 1 PM, which is 10:30 PM IST where thunderstorms are there on the radar but only to die down quickly. However, there is a hurricane watch issued by the Barbados Met Department for Saturday morning. There is a flash flood warning as well but that's for Sunday because of the tropical storm Beryl.
Hence, there is a possibility the match might face some interruptions. However, with extra 190 minutes available for the officials, there is a chance of the full game getting completed on the original day itself because the forecast for the rest of the day doesn't look bad. The start could be delayed because of the early morning showers and thunderstorm prediction and another interruption is likely during the second half of the second innings, but that too is likely to be a short one as there is every possible chance of a full 40-over game. Fingers crossed!
