The toss was delayed by 45 minutes in Saturday’s fifth T20I at the Utilita Bowl due to India’s late arrival at the ground, with heavy traffic obstructing their journey from Southampton.
The Utilita Bowl is situated in West End, a small town in Hampshire around five miles from Southampton’s city centre. England stayed in the on-site hotel on Friday night but India stayed separately in the Ocean Village area.
The venue, which will host an Ashes Test for the first time next summer, is accessible only via one road, and is among the hardest to reach via public transport of any major international ground in English cricket.
India belatedly arrived at around 2.05pm, shortly after the scheduled 2.00pm toss was delayed. It was pushed back to 2.45pm, with a start time of 3pm and no overs lost.
It is the second time that an England men’s international has been delayed due to a team being stuck in traffic in as many years, after the same issue prompted a half-hour delay in an ODI against West Indies at The Oval last year.
More to follow…
