Barbados
Logistical challenges continue to haunt the organisers, the players and their families, the broadcasters and ICC match officials. With the USA and the West Indies hosting the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup, rapid changes to the schedule and short turnaround between matches haven’t spared anyone. The South African Team is the latest to be hit by such an obstacle.
After winning their semi-final match against Afghanistan on Thursday (June 27) in the most one-sided affair, the Proteas team, their staff and everyone else got stranded at the Trinidad airport because of a runway closure at the Grantley Adams airport in Barbados, the venue for the T20 WC final. It was due to a landing failure of a small private plane.
Meanwhile, the pilot (of the flight consisting of players, their families and officials) received information about the obstacle at the airport in Bridgetown just before takeoff.
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Per the report, the Barbados airport was closed for inspections by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Barbados Police Service.
"It appeared that the landing gear of the private aircraft did not deploy, but it is currently on the runway at GAIA [Grantley Adams International Airport] safely," Sharleen Brown, Corporate Communication Specialist with GAIA, said in a statement. She also confirmed that all three individuals on board - two passengers and a pilot - were unharmed.
‘Delay causes frustration’
With several cases of flight delays and logistic failures making headlines during this tournament alone, the worst was when three teams - Sri Lanka, South Africa and Ireland, were forced to spend the night at the airport when travelling from Florida to New York earlier during the group stages. More so for Afghanistan, who played their last Super 8 match in the wee hours on Tuesday, and had their flight delayed before taking the field again for their first semi-final on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, the Proteas qualified for their first-ever World Cup final across formats. Led by Aiden Markram, South Africa was the first to qualify for the final after beating Afghanistan by nine wickets.
In the summit clash for the T20 WC trophy, the Proteas will face the mighty Indian team, who defeated defending champions England to make it to their third T20 WC final. The mega clash will take place on Saturday (June 29) in Barbados.
While India was the inaugural winner of this competition, it is South Africa’s first chance to lift a World Cup trophy.
(With inputs from agencies)