Reports indicate that the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 won’t have a reserve day scheduled for the second semifinal.
The ICC and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have teamed up to give the second semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2024 a bit more breathing room. They’ve decided to add 250 extra minutes to the match, but here’s the kicker: there’s no backup day if things get rained out.
Reports from Cricbuzz say they’re dead set on wrapping up the game on the same day, no matter what. They’ve carved out a solid four-hour chunk for the showdown. This way, the teams won’t have to deal with the headache of playing, traveling, and then playing again back-to-back on consecutive days.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting: the first semifinal, set to go down in Trinidad on June 26 at 8:30 p.m. local time, has a safety net. If the rain decides to crash the party, they’ve got June 27 as a backup plan.
Meanwhile, the second semifinal, slated for Guyana on June 27 at 10:30 a.m. local time, gets the bonus time treatment. With the extra minutes courtesy of the ICC and CWI, the umpires have about eight hours in their back pocket to see this T20 thriller through to the end.
“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 semi-final immediately post the game because the game is a 10.30 AM start, whilst the first semi-final 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,” a source told Cricbuzz.
The reason for not having a reserve day could be the tight schedule between the second semi-final and the final, which leaves just one day in between.
In the semi-finals and final, teams chasing will need to complete at least 10 overs for a result, unlike other matches where just five overs are enough. This sets these matches apart from the rest of the tournament. The T20 World Cup kicks off on June 2, with the West Indies and the USA sharing hosting duties.
There are a total of 20 teams split into four groups. India finds itself in Group A alongside traditional rivals Pakistan, as well as Canada, Ireland, and the host nation, the USA. India begins their journey against Ireland on June 5, followed by matches against Pakistan on June 9, USA on June 12, and Canada on June 15.
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