The group stage of the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 is done and dusted. A few of the group stage matches, though, had to be abandoned thanks to rain.
While most of the abandoned matches happened in Colombo, the games in India were also affected to some extent. Even the last group stage match in Navi Mumbai ended with no result.
Navi Mumbai will host one semi-final and the big final. And the rain might be a big threat to the knockouts.
So, what happens if it rains? Is there a reserve day for the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 semi-final and final?
Fortunately, yes. Both semi-finals and the final of the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 will have reserve days.
The first semi-final between England and South Africa will take place on October 29 in Guwahati, with a reserve day on October 30. India and Australia, meanwhile, will meet in the second semi-final on October 30 in Navi Mumbai, with the reserve day scheduled for October 31.
While reserve days are in place, the umpires will try to finish the match on the scheduled day. So, if rain interrupts the knockout matches, we might see a reduction in overs to achieve a result on the same day.
Find all details about the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 here
Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025: Complete Schedule
India’s ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 Schedule
ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025: Captains of All Teams
All Squads for ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025
Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 Broadcast & Live Stream Details
But what if the knockout matches move to the reserve day?
The match will either resume from the moment it was abandoned on the scheduled day, or it will restart as a full 50-over game.
Consider these two scenarios.
Match Resumes: Rain interrupts a knockout match after 19 overs. Then we will start losing overs, making it a 46-over per side affair.
The play then resumes on the scheduled day. But rain plays spoilsport again, with no further play possible. This means the reserve day will come into the picture with the match resuming as 46 overs per side.
Match Restarts: But in case there’s no further play after reduction to 46 overs per side on the scheduled day, the knockout match will restart on the reserve day with full 50 overs.
What’s the minimum overs needed to achieve a result?
For a knockout match to have an outright result, both teams must bat at least 20 overs. If the minimum overs can’t be bowled before the cutoff time on the scheduled day, the match will resume on the reserve day.
But what if the semi-final or final ends with no result?
If there’s no result possible in the semi-finals, even on the reserve day, then the teams ranked high on the points table will advance into the final.
So, in case the first semi-final is abandoned or ends in a no result, England will be through to the final as they finished above South Africa. In the second semi-final, Australia will proceed further as they topped the table.
And if the final ends with no result, then the two semi-finalists will be the joint winners of the tournament.
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