England knocked out of T20 World Cup as India prevail after semi-final washout

Harmanpreet Kaur's side progress after finishing top of their pool in the group phase, while England are left to rue a now crucial defeat against South Africa

England have been knocked out of the T20 World Cup after their semi-final against India was abandoned due to persistent and heavy rain in Sydney.

A toss had to take place by 4.36pm (local time) in order for a match to take place, beginning 15 minutes later.

It soon became patently obvious that this was unlikely to happen, with puddles forming on the outfield as an ominous weather forecast lived up to its threat.

By courtesy of winning their group and going through their four games unbeaten, India progress to the final.

England, meanwhile, were left to regret a poor performance in their first match of the tournament - a defeat against South Africa that, ultimately, has made them pay.

This eventuality had been mooted for several days and there had been talk - though not among the ICC - of adding a reserve day to the calendar in order to play out the two semi-finals.

But with organisers unprepared to budge on the initial playing conditions, England's run - their first event under the leadership of new head coach Lisa Keightley - came to an unsatisfactory end.

"Really frustrating, not how we wanted the World Cup to finish for us," Heather Knight admitted.

"But not a lot we can do, to be honest. Not having a reserve day has meant we had no chance of getting play, but ultimately that first game and that loss against South Africa has cost us.

"Our aim was to get to the semi-finals, which we did, and you feel like you’re in a knockout, but not to be with the weather. It’s all very English, talking about the weather and getting knocked out. But yeah, very frustrating that we haven’t had that chance to fight for a place in the final.

"It felt like we’d gained a bit of momentum and were really ready for this semi-final and really pumped up and ready to go."

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur added: "In the future, if we could get a reserve day for the semi-finals, then that would be a great idea."