ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Which team will qualify for the finals if IND vs NZ Semi-final clash gets washed out?

We are just three matches away from crowning the new World Cup champions. The ICC World Cup 2023 will host its first semi-final on November 15 (Wednesday). This game will take place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. India will face New Zealand in this highly anticipated clash. The Indian team won all of their nine group matches and finished the points table with 18 points.

On the other hand, New Zealand registered five wins and became the fourth team to qualify for the semi-finals, with 10 points. Now these two teams will come up against each other, and the winner will qualify for the finals. Everyone is waiting for this game. Especially Indian fans, who want their team to take revenge for the loss suffered in the 2019 World Cup semi-final. But the weather can also make its presence felt in Mumbai.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: What will happen if rain washes out IND vs NZ Semi-final in Mumbai?

The much-awaited match will be played on Wednesday at Wankhede Stadium. India will look to continue their winning streak of nine matches and add another win to it. On the other hand, New Zealand will look to make it to their third consecutive World Cup final with a win. These two teams played the 2019 World Cup semi-final in Manchester, which was a rain-hit game. The matches went into reserve day, and India lost.

However, the current weather forecast for Wednesday doesn’t suggest rain, but what if the smog and haze cause visibility issues? Though the chances of rain in Mumbai are very low, nothing can be said about the Mumbai weather. So what will happen if the game somehow gets stopped or washed out? Notably, as per the rules, there is a reserve day allotted for knockout games. It means that if there is rain on the scheduled day, the game will move to the next day.

If it rains or the weather breaks on Wednesday, there are two additional hours to get the result of the match. That means the final cut-off time for the game on the first day is 11:30 p.m. A minimum of 20 overs per side is required to get the result of the game. But if somehow the game ends without a result despite going into the reserve day, then India will qualify for the finals because of their rank during the group stage.