India vs England, Weather Update in Birmingham today: Sunny day with cool breeze expected during mega clash

Birmingham: England can rely on playing its must-win game in front of the noisiest, most passionate, drum-banging, trumpet-blasting cricket fans in the land who will cheer every mistake by the opposition. But the Cricket World Cup hosts will also have some supporters of its own in Birmingham. [caption id=“attachment_6865401” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Team India. AP[/caption] India’s so-called Bharat Army fans are expected to outnumber England’s Barmy Army supporters in a Sunday sellout at the around 25,000-capacity Edgbaston in what will feel like a home game for India. India, which has been dominant throughout the tournament apart from one close-call against winless Afghanistan, will join Australia in the semifinals with a win. It has 11 points from six games. Fourth-place England has eight points from seven games and faces New Zealand in its last group match. England was ranked No 1 at the start of the tournament and was the early title favorite. Eoin Morgan’s team is not out of contention if it loses to India, but its fate will no longer be in its hands, and its dreams of a one-day international cricket revolution potentially over. Failure to advance by what was widely seen pre-tournament as the finest-ever England ODI team — skewing rivals with a surfeit of six-smacking skills — would be a hard blow to take. And hard blows have been partly blamed for England’s predicament so far with its super-aggressive approach — and alleged no Plan B — often wasting chances of taking singles and 2s, and innings-building in a more modest way. The team lacks the strategic finesse in one-day internationals that India has thanks to inspirational captain Virat Kohli. So, there are no two ways about it that Saturday game is going to be a must-win clash for England and they would love zero interruptions by weather acts. And it seems like the weather gods have obliged. The prediction for Saturday is of “partial sunshine; cooler but pleasant” weather conditions in Birmingham, according to Accuweather. A maximum temperature of 23 degree Celsius while a minimum of 12 is expected to greet players throughout the day. As far as rains are concerned, the prediction has pegged precipitation at five percent which means no rain should come between the game and fans. This will be the third match of the World Cup at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. New Zealand won the first match against South Africa before suffering a loss to Pakistan at the venue. With AP inputs For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, click here