CHENNAI: Pakistan and New Zealand walked away with one point each after their Super 8s clash in Colombo was abandoned without a ball being bowled. This result, which was forced due to incessant rain, and the weather forecast in Colombo for the coming week has led to questions over what would happen if the matches get washed out? How will the teams get their place in respective groups? And at what point net run rate and head to head comes into play?
This is what ICC playing conditions say. According to the clause 16.10.4 in the documents, the same rules of the Group stages apply for Super 8s as well. Whereas:
In the event of teams finishing on equal points in their group, the right to progress to the next stage of the competition will be decided in the following order of priority:
a) The team with the greatest number of wins in its group will be placed in the higher position.
b) If there are teams with equal points and equal wins in their group, the team with the higher net run rate in the group stage will be placed in the higher position (refer to clause 16.10.7 below for the calculation of net run rate).
c) If two or more teams are still equal, they will be ordered according to the head-to-head match played between them.
d) If the above does not resolve the group ordering, or if all matches within a group produce no results, then the teams will be ordered as per their position on the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings as at 6 February 2026.
Though it is unlikely that all the Super 8s in Sri Lanka gets washed out, it is plausible that some of the matches will be affected by rain. What makes it interesting is that all four teams have three wins each but New Zealand and Sri Lanka have a better net run rate than England and Pakistan. They may have a clear advantage but one can only hope that weather do not dictate the terms in its entiriety.