ICC confirms reserve day for semi-finals & final

The semifinals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will get underway with hosts India taking on New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. Five-time World Cup champions Australia will face South Africa in the second semifinal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday. ICC has announced reserve days for the two semi-finals and the final.

Team India are the only unbeaten team in the World Cup 2023 having won all their nine games with ease. Rohit Sharma’s side thrashed Netherlands by 160 runs in their final league clash in Bengaluru on Saturday to post their ninth successive win. New Zealand, on the other hand, were the final team to qualify for the semifinals with win over Sri Lanka and Pakistan’s loss to England confirming their entry into the knockout stage.

South Africa were the second team to qualify, winning seven of their nine matches. An early loss to the Netherlands was a shock, and they also slipped to a heavy defeat to India after both teams had already secured qualification. Australia bounced back from defeats to India and South Africa in their opening matches to win the remaining seven and qualify with 14 points.

The ICC announced on Tuesday that both the semifinal and final will have the facility of ‘Reserve Days’. The matches will begin from the same stage where they were interrupted if the games are hit by rain on the original day.

If both semifinals are washed out due to rain on both the days, then hosts India will be facing South Africa in the final on Ahmedabad on Sunday.