Rain wipes out England v Pakistan third T20 international

CARDIFF : The third T20 international between England and Pakistan at Cardiff's Sophia Gardens was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to persistent rain on Tuesday.

Umpires decided after a pitch inspection that no play was possible, leaving England 1-0 up in the four-match series after the opening game in Leeds was also washed out without any action.

The final match before the teams depart on Friday for the T20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies is scheduled for The Oval on Thursday, with some rain also forecast in London.

England, who won the second match at Edgbaston by 23 runs last Saturday, are the defending T20 World Cup champions with Pakistan the beaten finalists at that 2022 tournament.

Tuesday's warm-up game would have been without England captain Jos Buttler, who had returned home to be with his wife for the birth of their third child.