T20 World Cup Final Delayed as South Africa Team Stranded

The T20 World Cup 2024 has been plagued by logistical challenges, and the final between South Africa and the West Indies is no exception. A landing failure of a small private aircraft at the Grantley Adams airport in Barbados has stranded the South African team, their families, commentators, match officials, and ICC officials at the Trinidad airport.

The Barbados airport was closed for inspections by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Barbados Police Service after the incident. Moments before the South African contingent was set to take off from Trinidad, the pilots received information about the runway closure in Bridgetown.

"It appeared that the landing gear of the private aircraft did not deploy, but it is currently on the runway at GAIA [Grantley Adams International Airport] safely," said Sharleen Brown, Corporate Communication Specialist with GAIA. She confirmed that all three individuals on board - two passengers and a pilot - were unharmed.

Passengers on the flight from Trinidad to Barbados were told the tentative rescheduled time was 4.30pm, which would amount to nearly six hours of delay. All the boarded passengers had to return to the terminal, adding to the many delays endured by teams at the tournament.

Sri Lanka had to spend a whole night at the airport when traveling from Florida to New York. Afghanistan, who finished their last Super Eight match in the wee hours of Tuesday, also had their flight delayed before playing their first T20 World Cup semi-final on Wednesday night.

This is the first time South Africa has made a final of a men's World Cup. The final will be played on Saturday morning, as opposed to the usual tradition of playing on Sundays. That change meant the second semi-final, currently delayed because of inclement weather in Guyana, could not have a reserve day.

Despite giving the two semi-finals the same amount of extra time to get a game in, the ICC has used different playing conditions if the matches needed to be shortened.

Tags: #T20WorldCup, #SouthAfrica, #WestIndies, #Barbados, #AirportClosure