World Cup reaches business end with semi-finals

MUMBAI: With the 45-match league round completed we come to the business end of the 2023 Cricket World Cup where the top four teams have qualified for the semi-finals.

Host India has been so dominant that they are the only unbeaten side in the tournament with nine wins out of nine, while the other three semi-finalists have suffered at least two or more losses in reaching the last four.

Being unbeaten in the league stage is one thing, but the knockouts are a totally different kettle of fish because a loss could mean, you are out of the World Cup. The millions of fans who have been following India’s progress around the world will clamour for their country to make it to the final and lift the World Cup for the third time – they first won it in 1983 in England and again in 2011 in India.

The way India has played in the current tournament it seems there isn’t any chinks in their armour because they have been so proficient in whatever they do, and it has reflected in their play on the field. No team in the tournament has shown such mastery and ruthlessly decimated their opponents. Their margins of victory have been so great with plenty of balls to spare, it is only against New Zealand their opponents in the semi-finals that they won with the least number of balls – 12.

New Zealand has been India’s nemesis having destroyed their hopes in the 2019 edition with an 18-run win in the semi-finals. India will bear that in mind when they confront them on Wednesday at Mumbai. 

With 2019 champions England bowing out, New Zealand the losing finalists of the two previous World Cups in 2015 and 2019 will want to make it count this time. The Black Caps have this knack of upsetting the odds and it’s not putting it beyond them to do it again however strong India is. It only takes one bad day in office to overturn the odds. India has so far not experienced it so far in this tournament.

Running India close is five-time winners Australia who after a slow start – losses to India and South Africa have gained momentum as the tournament progressed that they can be considered one of the strong favourites to make the final. Starting with the match against Sri Lanka, Australia have won seven matches on the trot and look quite a dangerous side with all their injured and out of form players recovering and making big contributions. Australia takes on South Africa, one of the team’s they lost to in the league stage, in the second semi-final at Kolkata. 

South Africa for their part has never progressed beyond the semi-final stage having arrived there on four occasions in 1992, 1999, 2007 and 2015. This is another opportunity for them to overcome that hoodoo and the tag of ‘chokers’ and get into the final for the first time. They can draw inspiration from their rugby side which went onto win the World Cup. South Africa has played some outstanding cricket making the highest total of the current tournament – 428-5 v Sri Lanka and going past the 300-run mark on four other occasions. The Proteas have a well-balanced unit that has brought them seven victories, including one against their semi-final opponents Australia, which should somewhat give them a psychological edge.         

Rules tweaked for Semi-finals, finals

The ICC has tweaked the rules of the game as compared to the group matches, in case there is disruption of the semi-finals and final matches. The playing condition rules for World Cup 2023 semi-finals and final:

The semi-finals and final have got the provision of a reserve day on which an incomplete match shall be continued from the scheduled day. Group matches have not got a reserve day allocated.

If the semi-final match is abandoned and there is no result at the end of the reserve day, then the team which finished in the higher position in the league stage will proceed to the final. This means India which has been unbeaten in group matches gets the edge in case there is no result even after the reserve day.

In addition, semi-finals and final have got 120 minutes of extra time for the completion of match on the scheduled day vs 60 minutes for normal group match.

If a semi-final is tied, there will be a super-over to determine which team progresses to the final.

If weather conditions prevent the Super Over from being completed, then the team which proceeds to the final will be the team that finished in the higher position in the league stage.