India will be making their final tilt to seal a spot for themselves in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup on Sunday when they face Zimbabwe at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. India will have to beat Zimbabwe to go through to the semis if Pakistan beat Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval in a match that will be played on the same day but before the fixture in Melbourne.
Zimbabwe have been a surprise package in this Super 12 stage, recording a stunning win over Pakistan and a washed out match against South Africa has given them an outside chance to sneak through to the semi-finals. While the probability of them ending up in the top two of Group 2 is extremely low, the fact remains that India cannot take them lightly.
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Super 12 matches in Melbourne have been disrupted by rain the most, particularly in Group 1. However, the forecast for Sunday seems to be more favourable. The Australian government's Bureau of Meteorology has said that there could be showers during the day but chances are very low post 7pm local time, which is when India's match is scheduled to begin.
"Partly cloudy. Medium (50%) chance of showers about the northern and northeastern suburbs, slight (30% ) chance elsewhere, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm in the northeast in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming northerly 15 to 20 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the middle of the day," reads the forecast on its website.
{{/usCountry}}"Partly cloudy. Medium (50%) chance of showers about the northern and northeastern suburbs, slight (30% ) chance elsewhere, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm in the northeast in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming northerly 15 to 20 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the middle of the day," reads the forecast on its website.
{{/usCountry}}India's last match at the MCG during this tournament was their dramatic opening match against arch-rivals Pakistan. India had pulled victory out of the jaws of defeat in a match that was watched by a sellout audience at the colossal stadium. After that, the next game at the MCG had to be decided via DLS method due to rain and the subsequent three consecutive games were all washed out. Rain was expected to disrupt India's match against Pakistan as well but the weather held up on the day and Rohit Sharma's men will be hoping it would be a similar story on Sunday.