New Delhi. The semi-final matches of the ICC T20 World Cup will be played on Thursday, June 27. Afghanistan will face South Africa in the first semi-final of the tournament while India will face England in the second semi-final. This time the rules for both the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup are different. In fact, a reserve day has been kept for the first match while this facility will not be available in the second match.
The Super 8 matches are over and four teams are set to play in the ICC T20 World Cup semi-finals. India, Afghanistan, South Africa and England have made it to the last four. In the first semi-final, the Afghanistan team will face South Africa, while in the second match, India will face England. Both the matches will be played on June 27.
Reserve day in the first match
A reserve day has been held for the first semi-final between South Africa and Afghanistan. If it rains during the match and the match cannot be played in full even after reducing the overs, it will be played on a reserve day. The next day the match will resume from the same place where it was stopped. An additional 60 minutes are reserved for the first day of play and an additional 190 minutes for the reserve day. South Africa will be able to enter the finals on top of the table if the match does not result even on the reserve day due to rain.
There is no reserve day in the second match
Another semi-final match is to be played between India and England. Like the first semi-final, there is no reserve day for this match. If rain interrupts, there will be 250 minutes of extra time to complete the match. If the result of the match is not known due to rain, India will reach the final by finishing at the top of the table.
Why was the reserved day not kept?
In fact, even before the Indian team reached the semi-finals, the ICC had decided that regardless of the position of the Indian team in the table, they would play only the second semi-final. The reason behind this is the time difference between India and the host country. Whether India finished first or second, it was already decided that it would play the second semi-final. Keeping the Indian audience in mind, ICC has scheduled all its matches from 8 pm Indian time.
The first semi-final will be played at 6 am IST, which is not suitable for spectators. If the semi-final between India and England had been kept as a reserve day and the match extended to 28 June, the World Cup final would have been played on the second day, i.e. 29 June. Whichever team India or England reaches the final, there is no time to rest. For this reason a reserve day was not held for the second semi-final.
Tags: ICC T20 World Cup, India Vs England, T20 World Cup
First published: June 26, 2024, 13:18 IST