The super sopper lives!

I've just spotting it chugging around the outfield and then blasting torrents of water over the boundary ropes.

Live well, you beautiful thing.

While we wait for the next inspection/mourn the sad demise of the sopper, you may wish to tune into the TMS feed at the top of this page.

Andrew Leonard, Alex Hartley and Daniel Norcross are talking all things Irish cricket, some real insight into the future prospects and challenges for the game there.

You hear that? That's me sobbing.

We've got another hour's delay, I'm afraid. There'll be another inspection at 17:30 BST to see if we can get a game on.

Hold on, Alex Hartley's just said the super-sopper has broken down!

My beautiful child, gone far too soon.

Alex Hartley
Former England bowler on BBC Sounds

The USA are nowhere to be seen; a five-over game is not what the USA want. If it is called off today the USA go through and Ireland and Pakistan, their tournaments are over. The Ireland lads are all out on the pitch, playing football saying that the pitch is fine and they're ready to go.

Meanwhile the umpires are currently striding around the ground, tentatively prodding bits of grass with their feet.

I can't see any standing water out there, but the turf does seem to be a tad pliant.

A reminder, if the match is called off then the United States are through. They won't mind keeping their feet up in the dressing room.

But that would mean Ireland would be out, so they'll be rather more keen to get going.

I've spent far too long staring at a single camera feed of the ground at Lauderhill.

The whole time a super-sopper has been working its way around the outfield - I've become quite invested in it.

It's being driven by a human, of course, but I can't really see them so I've begun to anthropomorphise the vehicle.

Put it in Star Wars, it can speak in charming beeps and whistles. It will be capable of fighting colossal space battles and soaking up huge amounts of water on the outfields of Alderaan, depending on the demands of the narrative.

Meanwhile, if you were out enjoying some of the UK's current "mid-winter in June" weather yesterday, here's what you missed from Bangladesh's clash with the Netherlands.

The USA's last game was against India on Wednesday.

The hosts scored a reasonable 110 on the difficult pitch in New York, then reduced the tournament heavyweights to 10-2 and 39-3, before Shivam Dube and Suryakumar Yadav saw India home.

Peter Della Penna
Test Match Special commentator on BBC Sounds

In some ways, the USA performance against India was more impressive than what they did against Pakistan. Pakistan came limping into the tournament, they were beaten by Ireland, and they did not look completely sharp, the USA were on the rise against a vulnerable team.

India are at their peak and so for USA to stretch them the way they did was very impressive.

Some news from Lauderhill and it's not good, I'm afraid.

We're going to have to wait until another inspection at 16:30 BST.

The pitch is uncovered and while the skies seem to have darkened somewhat, it doesn't appear to be raining. So presumably the issue is that standing water on the outfield.

We'll be back with an update in half an hour - between then and now we'll stick some our best video content in here, and you can listen to the latest from the Test Match Special team at the top of the page.

Meanwhile the Tailenders have faced many fast bowlers, but their latest guest, Formula One driver Oscar Piastri, might take the cake.

Recording at McLaren's Woking HQ, Greg, Jimmy, and Felix interviewed Oscar, who shared insights into life under the halo and his thoughts during races. Despite his racing success, Oscar revealed his first dream was to play cricket professionally, joking, "I failed."

In an impromptu cricket match on the McLaren lawn, marking Jimmy Anderson's return since retirement, Oscar showcased his cricket skills. Recalling his youth, Oscar admitted, "I always had to have the longest run-up in the team." He realized he might be overdoing it after meeting Dennis Lillee: "My run-up was about ten paces longer than Dennis Lillee’s."

Facing Jimmy, Oscar found it "scary," especially without pads or a box, yet played some impressive shots. Jimmy humorously compared it to his Ashes struggles, saying, "I couldn’t get anyone out."

Still no news from the pitch inspection, so let's find you some entertainment, eh?

Firstly, why not enjoy last night's highlights from England's destruction of Oman? Their bowlers took apart the associate side and then the batters made light work of chasing a target of 48, finishing in just 3.1 overs and significantly boosting that crucial net run rate.

Alex Hartley
Former England bowler on BBC Sounds

The pitch is fine, the run-ups are a little bit damp, but they are hard enough you can probably get away with them, but it is the outfield and they've mopped up the left-hand side of it but now they've got the mammoth task of doing behind the bowlers' arms and the right-hand side.

Andrew Leonard
Irish cricket commentator on BBC Sounds

If you look at Ireland, they have been so poor this tournament compared to how well they have played in the last 12-18 months, it would be desperately sad if, like what happened to Sri Lanka, it was to be decided off the pitch than on it. If they go out there for five overs and are beaten by the USA they can have no complaints, but they would love to play today.

We've talked about the United States being a win away from qualification for the Super 8s, but let's not entirely dismiss Ireland.

In normal circumstances they would be favourites in this match, but have endured a poor tournament thus far, losing heavily to India and then falling to defeat against Canada.

Their chances of qualification are slim - they would to win today and against Pakistan on Sunday and hope others results go their way. But they're not out of this tournament quite yet...

Image source, Getty Images

Afghanistan's win also confirms that New Zealand, who have reached the semi-finals in each of the last three T20 tournaments and were beaten finalists in 2021, will not progress from Group C.

Kane Williamson's side were thrashed by Afghanistan in their opening game then lost to West Indies in their second match meaning the Black Caps will exit a World Cup before the last four for the first time since 2014.

It also leaves us to come to terms with the fact we've only got two more games to enjoy arguably the best kit in the tournament...

Image source, Getty Images

Afghanistan are through to the T20 World Cup Super 8s after beating Papua New Guinea by seven wickets in Trinidad overnight.

After bowling out Papua New Guinea for 95, Afghanistan were made to work early in the chase but Gulbadin Naib's unbeaten 49 got them over the line.

Gulbadin was the only batter to really find any rhythm on a tricky surface at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, hitting four fours and two sixes in his 36-ball knock.

Seamers Fazalhaq Farooqi (3-16) and Naveen-ul-Haq (2-4) did the damage for Afghanistan as three wickets in four balls left Papua New Guinea reeling at 12-3 early in the third over.

Conditions prevented Afghanistan from reaching their target as quickly as they might have wanted but Gulbadin finished it in style, smashing a six to complete a third straight win for Rashid Khan's side with 29 balls to spare.

While we wait for news of the pitch inspection, let's take a look at what happened overnight...

Andrew Leonard
Irish cricket commentator on BBC Sounds

It has been chaos. The scale of rain we have had in these last 72 hours has set records, last time it was close to this it was 1947.