A reserve day was scheduled by the ICC for the first semi-final in Trinidad, but not for the match between India and England in Guyana.
Does it look like it will rain? Prior to India’s T20 World Cup semi-final matchup versus England at Providence Stadium in Guyana, that has been the main question. Rain has clouded the much-anticipated match, which is a rematch of the most recent T20 World Cup semifinal played in Adelaide, Australia. Both teams have the same ultimate goal in mind: a spot in the summit match in Barbados against South Africa.Even though the first semi-final match in Trinidad was scheduled for a reserve day, the Proteas easily defeated Afghanistan in that match without any rain delays.
Does that also apply to the second semifinal? Well, not precisely. For the India vs. England semi-final, the ICC has not set aside a reserve day. Given that Georgtown, the capital of Guyana, has seen some rain in the recent days, there’s a chance that the matchday weather may be similar.
India and England would have different moods if rain does ruin the show. India will advance directly to the championship game whereas England will be left to lament their defeat, primarily due to their superior standing in the league and Super 8 stage.
The ICC’s decision to have distinct regulations for the first and second semifinals has sparked controversy in the media, but the supreme body has clarified the decision.
The decision to forgo a reserve day for the India-England match was made, according to an ICC spokeswoman, in order to provide the second finalist adequate time to relax and travel, given that there is only one day separating the second semi-final in Guyana and the final in Barbados.”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 10.30am start, whilst the first semi-final is an evening start, which means it is not feasible to play all additional time on the same day,” the International Cricket Council (ICC) spokesperson was quoted as saying. Not to mention that the semi-final was played in the evening (8:30 PM local time, 6 AM IST), while the second semi-final will start at 10:30 AM local time (8 PM IST).
