As the much awaited semifinal match between India and New Zealand remains suspended on Tuesday, there are clear rules in place to decide what happens in case we are unable to get a full game or in the worst case scenario, the match fails to resume.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has set down regulations for multiple scenarios that may occur during the World Cup in order to move forward with the tournament. Situations like match called off due to rain or a tie between the two playing teams have been addressed in the rules. In this edition of the World Cup, semifinal matches and the finals have one reserve day each in which the game will be continued, in case it is suspended due to multiple reasons. The match will be posted to reserve day if it is not possible to play for 20 overs/120 mins till the official closing time of the match on that day. The match will not be restarted but instead will resume on the next day from where it was left off before play was called off. If the match is called off even on the reserve day, then whichever team is ranked higher in the league stages will proceed to the finals. In this case if the match fails to resume even on the reserve day, then India will progress to the final by virtue of finishing higher on points in the group stage.
A similar situation was witnessed in the 1999 World Cup match between India and England at Edgbaston when play was suspended due to rain and was continued the next day. India won that game by 63 runs, booking a berth in the Super-Six stage of the tournament.
Similarly, if a final match is suspended due to any reason, it will be continued on the reserve day. If the reserve day is also washed out, then both the finalists will share the trophy.
What happens if the teams end up with the same score in the semifinal or final? Both the teams will play an extra over, also known as ‘Super Over’. This would be a one-over version of the game in which both teams will be allowed to play for one over. The team that scores higher will be considered winner of the match. The Super Over concept was introduced in the knockout stages of the 2011-edition of the World Cup and has continued since.
New Zealand had reached 211 for 5 after 46.1 overs when play was suspended due to rain with Ross Taylor and Tom Latham at the crease.