The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have jointly tweaked the playing conditions for the second semifinal of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, which will see the encounter being played without the reserve day in Guyana on June 27.
The co-host and the cricket’s governing body have reached an agreement to allot 250 minutes (4 hours and 10 minutes) extra to decide the second finalist of the T20 showpiece in case of rain, according to a report on the website Cricbuzz.
In total, there will be more than eight hours to complete the match on the same day if it rains that day.
Without the provision of a reserve day, the teams playing in the second semifinal would wish to please the rain gods as the team finishing higher in the group stage will progress for the summit clash in a washout scenario.
As per the original schedule of the tournament, all three knockout matches were allotted reserve days. However, the amendments in the second semi-final were made to create a one-day buffer between the final and the second semi-final.
According to the official schedule of the tournament, the first semifinal will be played in Trinidad on June 26 with June 27 marked as reserve day. Whereas, the second semifinal is slated for June 27 at Providence Stadium in Guyana. With the final of the tournament scheduled to be played at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on June 29, the players participating in the second semifinal will have to play back-to-back encounters in case of a reserve day.
As per new playing conditions for the second semifinal, June 28 will be the travel day for the team making it to the finals in Guyana.
In case of any adversary, India will be one of the teams to face the heat of the revised playing conditions. The 2007 T20 World Cup winners are clubbed with archrivals Pakistan, Canada, Ireland and co-host USA in Group A. If qualified, India are in line to play in the second semifinal.
“All four teams have exactly the same opportunity to finish a game. For performance reasons, to ensure teams do not have to ‘play, travel, play’ on consecutive days, the decision was taken to allocate the additional time for the second semifinal immediately post the game because the game is a 10.30 AM start, whilst the first semifinal is an evening start, which means it is not feasible to pay all additional time on the same day. This also ensures that fans in the stadium have the best chance of seeing a result on the day,” Cricbuzz quoted a source as saying.
According to the rules for the Reserve-Day Playing Conditions:
13.6.1 All matches will consist of one inning per side, each inning being limited to a maximum of 20 overs. All matches shall be of one day’s scheduled duration provided that participating countries in a series may agree to provide for a reserve day on which an incomplete match may be replayed or continued from the scheduled day.
13.6.2 If the match is to be continued on the reserve day, every effort shall be made to complete the match on the scheduled day with any necessary reduction in overs taking place and only if the minimum number of overs necessary to constitute a match cannot be bowled on the scheduled day will the match be completed on the reserve day.
13.6.3 If the match has started on the scheduled day and overs are subsequently reduced following an interruption, but no further play is possible, the match will resume on the reserve day under the same assumption that the last ball was played on the scheduled day.
The tie-break rules for the semifinals also make it quite complicated:
As per Clause 16.10.7 in the playing conditions:
- a) If a semifinal is tied, the teams shall compete in a Super-Over to determine which team progresses to the Final. Refer to clause 16.3.1.2 and Appendix F.
- b) If following a tie, weather conditions prevent the Super-Over from being completed, or if the match is abandoned or a no result, then the team that finished first in its Second Round Group will progress to the Final.
As per the original schedule of the tournament, all three knockout matches were allotted reserve days. The USA will take on Canada in the World Cup opener in Texas on June 2.
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