Why does the second semi-final not have a reserve day?
There’s solely at some point’s hole between the second semi-final in Guyana and the ultimate in Barbados, not like the primary semi-final in Trinidad. To provide the second finalists sufficient time to relaxation between matches, it has been determined to not have a reserve day.
Is not that kinda unfair?
Funnily sufficient, the additional time obtainable for each matches is definitely the identical: 250 minutes. An ICC spokesperson mentioned: “For efficiency causes, to make sure groups don’t have to ‘play-travel-play’ on consecutive days, the choice was taken to allocate the extra time for the second semi-final instantly put up the sport as a result of the sport is a ten.30am begin, while the primary semi-final is a night begin, which implies it’s not possible to play all further time on the identical day.”
So the enjoying circumstances relating to the reserve time for each the semi-finals are equivalent?
Not fairly.
How so?
All makes an attempt can be made to finish the primary semi-final on the scheduled day, which has been allotted regulation time plus 60 minutes, which implies the primary semi-final will begin shedding overs if the 8.30pm start-time is delayed for greater than an hour. If it nonetheless goes into the reserve day, an additional 190 minutes have been allotted from 2pm onwards, however the match will proceed from the place it was left off. For instance, if two hours are misplaced to rain on Wednesday night, the match will begin as 13 overs a facet from 10.30pm. If additional rain on the night time would not permit for the completion of a 10-over sport, the match will resume on the reserve day from the place it was interrupted.
Within the case of the second semi-final, an ICC spokesperson mentioned that the overs will begin being decreased solely at roughly 2.40pm: 250 minutes after the scheduled begin time of 10.30am.
This provides rise to a state of affairs by which the match might begin as a 20-over affair at 2.40pm, just for the the facet batting first to be halfway by their overs when the rain returns, thereby inflicting the match to be washed out as a no-result. That chance is decreased by the early transfer in direction of decreased overs within the first semi-final, however not the second.
If the ICC had made each effort to finish the second semi-final by 2.40pm and solely gone into further time if a 10-over sport was not attainable till such time, we might have had almost equivalent enjoying circumstances for each matches.
What constitutes a accomplished sport?
Not like within the league matches, the place 5 overs within the second innings was sufficient for a end result to be declared, each side could have had a chance to bat 10 overs to represent a match.
What if we won’t get 10 overs every in?
The group that completed on the high of their Tremendous Eight group advances. Meaning South Africa from the primary semi-final, and India from the second.
What if the match is a tie?
We play tremendous overs till time permits. If nonetheless unresolved, the group profitable their group advances.
What’s the forecast like?
The primary semi-final in Trinidad is underneath no menace of rain going into the reserve day. There’s fixed menace of rain throughout the second semi-final in Guyana.
So, if we need not fear about climate and additional time within the first semi-final, what’s the newest the second semi-final can begin for us to have a 10-over sport?
In line with an ICC spokesperson, it wants to start out by roughly 4.14pm for a 10-over match.
Is it true that India knew earlier than the opposite groups the place they’d be enjoying their semi-final?
Sure. India had been scheduled to play their semi-final in Guyana irrespective of the place they completed of their group as a result of that semi-final begins at 10.30am, which is 8pm again in India. Although South Africa and England knew they’d certified a number of hours earlier, they needed to look forward to India’s standing as winners of Group 1 to be resolved earlier than they might journey to their venues.
Nevertheless, these enjoying circumstances had been signed off by each taking part board properly earlier than the World Cup began.
Does this give India any benefit?
Any benefit India acquire vis-Ã -vis a no-result end, they did so by advantage of getting completed on the high of their group.
It could possibly be argued they chose their squad understanding they’d be in Guyana for the knockouts, however it’s most likely far-fetched to suppose the method could possibly be skewed by advance data of their eighth match of the event, when in addition they knew the venues for his or her earlier seven matches. Additionally, it’s a threat to base one’s choice on the historic nature of a venue, as has been noticed elsewhere throughout this World Cup.
Sidharth Monga is a senior author at ESPNcricinfo
