AUS vs SA, World Cup semifinal: As match resumes after rain, how weather might look rest of the day at Eden Gardens?

South Africa is facing the five-time world champions Australia in the second semi-final of the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday. SA skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in the second semifinals of the World Cup. But their campaign didn't start as planned and the Proteas lost quick four wickets in just a couple of overs.

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma was dismissed for a duck in the first over while Quinton De Kock went away for just 3 runs. Aiden Markram also got out after scoring 10 runs. Rassie Van der Dussen was dismissed for 6.

To add to the trouble, the game was stopped at 14 overs after rain interrupted the game when South Africa was 44/4.

Earlier, the Met department had predicted that the game could be at the mercy of the weather gods. Kolkata has been witnessing rain over the last few days. The India Meteorological Department on Thursday morning predicted “light rain with thunder likely” on both Thursday and Friday (the reserve day).

But the game resumed after some time and is now expected to run smoothly as AccuWeather predicted that the skies might open up around 8 PM.

 

Earlier, the Met department had said the weather is expected to worsen around the evening when the temperature will dip to around 24 degrees and humidity will rise to around 84 per cent with 100 per cent cloud cover over the ground with a 25 per cent chance of rain.

The Met department had further said that the chances of rain are more on the reserve day, i.e. November 15 (Friday), if the match is abandoned today.

On Friday, there are at least 75 per cent chances of rain in Kolkata with around 14.8 mm of rain predicted in the city.

Weather.com has also predicted a 30 per cent chance of rain on Thursday and a 40 per cent chance of rain on Friday.

Chances of Reserve Day

As per game rules by ICC, if bad weather stops the semi-final from finishing on Thursday, the match will resume on Friday on the reserve day from the same point.

When does the reserve day rule is activated?

Before activating the reserve day, the umpires will look to complete the match on the scheduled day, including reducing the contest to a minimum of 20 overs per side.

Even if that is not possible, a reserve day comes into play. In 2019, the semi-final between India and New Zealand was pushed to the reserve day at Old Trafford due to heavy rain in Manchester on the scheduled day.

ICC rules

If rain interrupts the game again, the umpires will first give priority to finishing the game today and may resume even if 20-overs-a-side game looks possible or even when a result looks possible.

In case the rain persists and the game can’t resume, umpires will decide to take the game into reserve day.

In case, the reserve day sees the same weather conditions and there no action, then the team that ranks higher in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 points table will go on to play in the final.

No play = Advantage SA

If the match is washed out, it would be 'advantage South Africa' with the Proteas set to qualify for the final against India on November 19. Though both the teams ended with 14 points after seven wins from nine league games, SA have a better net run rate than Australia making them the finalists this year against India.

Here's the points table after the league matches:

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net Run Rate
India (Q)	9	9	0	18	2.57
SA	9	7	2	14	1.261
Australia	9	7	2	10	0.861
New Zealand	9	5	4	10	0.743
Pakistan	9	4	5	8	-0.199
Afghanistan	9	4	5	8	-0.336
England	9	3	6	6	-0.572
Bangladesh	9	2	7	4	-1.142
Sri Lanka	9	2	7	4	-1.419
The Netherlands	9	2	7	4	-1.825

That means South Africa will go on and play against India in the final at Narendra Modi International Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19, Sunday.

Also read: AUS vs SA World Cup Semi-final: From ball-tempering to first 400 runs in ODI, take a look at some historic moments between the rivals  

Also read: India qualifies for Cricket World Cup 2023 Finals: Here's how to watch it for free on November 19