Eyes will be glued on the weather at Eden Gardens before and during the second semi-final of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup tomorrow. With the Met department issuing a rain directive in Kolkata and adjoining districts, a replica of ICC Cricket World Cup 1999 semi-final between South Africa vs Australia could face one or more interruptions on Thursday.
Advertisement
However, it is worth noting that the weather forecast isn’t as threatening as being projected in the media since yesterday. Hence, despite rain playing spoilsport in the city of joy, one expects the match to not be shortened significantly.
Going by tried and tested weather portal AccuWeather, rain probability is expected to be at a constant of 7% throughout the playing hours, i.e., starting 02:00 PM (local time) onward. Starting from 27 degree Celsius, the temperature will drop down to 24 degree by the end of the night. Humidity, on the other hand, could hamper players’ ability especially in the first innings.
Semi-final preparations are underway for the Proteas 🇿🇦#CWC23 pic.twitter.com/SQSmv15DLG
— ICC (@ICC) November 13, 2023
Weather At Eden Gardens Kolkata
02:00 PM – 27 degree (Rain Probability – 7%).
03:00 PM – 27 degree (Rain Probability – 7%).
04:00 PM – 26 degree (Rain Probability – 7%).
05:00 PM – 26 degree (Rain Probability – 7%).
06:00 PM – 25 degree (Rain Probability – 7%).
07:00 PM – 25 degree (Rain Probability – 7%).
08:00 PM – 25 degree (Rain Probability – 7%).
09:00 PM – 24 degree (Rain Probability – 7%).
10:00 PM – 24 degree (Rain Probability – 7%).
11:00 PM – 24 degree (Rain Probability – 7%).
Is There A Reserve Day For SA vs AUS World Cup Semi Final?
Yes. While the chances of this match getting (partially or fully) postponed to Friday are minimal, there’s a provision of a reserve day in each of the three knockout matches of 2023 World Cup.
Readers must note that the match officials will try their best to complete the match on the originally scheduled day itself. The same could be done on the back of reducing the contest to a 20-overs per side.
Assuming that the same doesn’t happen, the match will begin on Friday from the point it comes to a halt on Thursday. Hence, if a shortened match begins tomorrow, it will continue in the same manner on the reserve day. For the unversed, the first semi-final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in Manchester had been played across a couple of days due to rain.
Presuming if it rains at the Eden Gardens on Friday as well to not allow a result-oriented match, South Africa will qualify to the finals due to their second position on the points table as compared to Australia’s third.
