Weather destroys US, Bangladesh, England, Pakistan warm-ups

DALLAS (AP):

BAD WEATHER forced the abandonments of the T20 matches between United States and Bangladesh outside Dallas and England vs Pakistan in Cardiff, Wales, yesterday, denting the four teams’ preparations for the upcoming World Cup.

The US-Bangladesh game was scheduled for Grand Prairie Stadium, one of the three World Cup host venues in America. It was cancelled “due to the conditions of the facilities following the adverse weather that has affected the area,” Bangladesh Cricket said.

Strong storms pummelled Texas, leaving more than 1 million businesses and homes without power.

In Wales, the third match of the warm-up series between England and Pakistan was abandoned without any play possible because of rain.

The first match of the series was also wiped out by bad weather, before England won the second T20 by 23 runs in Edgbaston on Saturday. The fourth and final match of the series is at The Oval in London on Thursday.

The T20 World Cup begins on Saturday and is being staged in the United States and the Caribbean.

The US play Canada on the opening match at Grand Prairie Stadium, where Bangladesh open their campaign against Sri Lanka on June 7.

England’s first match is against Scotland in Barbados on June 4 and Pakistan play for the first time on June 6 against the US.