USA's last opportunities for fine-tuning their lineup ahead of the opening night of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup have been eliminated by severe weather systems passing through the Dallas area on the eve of the tournament. 

Photo credit: Peter Della Penna

By Peter Della Penna in Grand Prairie, Texas (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
 
USA’s buildup to the start of their first ever appearance in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup has been dampened in the days leading up to opening night on June 1 as both of their official tournament warm-up matches against Bangladesh on May 27 and Nepal on June 30 at Grand Prairie Stadium were abandoned without a ball bowled due to persistent rain. 
 
The match against Bangladesh was called off before either team left the team hotel on Monday morning due to severe thunderstorms that included wind gusts reaching speeds of up to 80 mph that caused extensive property damage in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That included to Grand Prairie Stadium itself, where a temporary LED video replay board on the north side of the stadium was destroyed during the storm. Damage was also inflicted upon the stadium border gates on the south side of the stadium. 
 
Thursday’s warm-up match between USA and Nepal looked set to begin with the team arriving and going through warm-up exercises before a toss was conducted on time with USA electing to bat first. However, just moments before play was due to begin at the scheduled 10:30 a.m. starting time, a heavy downpour came down over the stadium to chase players back into the dugouts. After an hour delay, the covers were removed and Nepal’s fielding unit went through their warmup exercises only for rain to return once again. Play was officially abandoned at 12:30 pm, two hours after the scheduled start of play. 
 
Netherlands and Canada were also due to play in the second match of a scheduled doubleheader at Grand Prairie Stadium. But that match was called off at 2:45 pm, 15 minutes before the scheduled start of play because not only was rain continuing to pelt down, but more was forecast across the next several hours. 
 
USA now has another rest day on Friday May 31 before taking the field for the tournament opener against Canada in Group A action on Saturday night June 1 at 7:30 pm local time. Rain is forecast to continue until Saturday afternoon, but Saturday night’s forecast remains clear. If the drainage at Grand Prairie Stadium continues to maintain its high standards, the tournament opener will hopefully proceed as scheduled.