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Freak weather strikes England cricketers as they crash out of World Twenty20 Cup
Rashid Razaq16.06.09
Freak weather brought drama on and off the pitch as England crashed out of the World Twenty20 Cup.
Lightning storms over The Oval severely disrupted play while heavy showers caused flash flooding in several parts of London last night.
Many in the sell-out crowd of 23,000 were drenched as the umpires waited until the last possible moment before resuming the match, which ended in a nail-biting finish with West Indies triumphant.
Fans paid as much as £60 a ticket for the quarter-final stage of the tournament, which England were expected to win after beating favourites India.
However, two separate sets of showers saw the covers go on and disrupt the game, shortening the West Indies' innings to nine overs.
The defeat was hard to take for the tournament hosts and their fans who had braved awful conditions during the 90-minute break in play.
Many matchgoers then had problems getting home as the storms disrupted travel across the capital.
The Met Office issued a severe weather warning with torrential downpours bringing almost two inches of rain in less than three hours and hailstones in some areas.
The emergency services were called to dozens of incidents as motorists struggled on roads affected by flash flooding.
Fire crews had to rescue the driver of a fast response ambulance car after it got bogged down in rising waters in Edmonton.
Enfield council staff used high-pressure jets to clear the blocked drains in Silver Street, which experienced three feet deep standing water.
Police cars, buses and other vehicles struggled through flooded roads in Chingford.
Forecasters said the weather warning was lifted last night as the storms moved away to the north.
“It was more intense than a typical summer thunderstorm. Some parts got 50mm of rain in a few hours, which leads to localised flooding,” said the forecaster.
Today's forecast is for drier conditions with some isolated showers, but temperatures are expected to reach 23C.
Reports of strange lights in the Channel last night have been put down to a meteor shower, coastguards said today.
Calls were made to stations from Hampshire down to Brixham in Devon and across to Jersey at about 9.30, with people saying they were seeing white and green flares in the sky.
