The 13th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup has boiled down to just one match — the epic final in which hosts India face five-time champions Australia in the grand finale on Sunday in Ahmedabad.
World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table
India have won all ten matches that they’ve played so far and are the only remaining unbeaten team. Australia, on the other hand, know very well what it takes to shine on the big stage and under pressure, having triumphed five times in seven appearances in World Cup finals since the inaugural edition in 1975.
The upcoming contest, a day-night affair that takes place at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, will be a repeat of the 2003 final at the ‘Bullring’ in Johannesburg, where the Ricky Ponting-led Australia steamrolled Sourav Ganguly’s India by 125 runs after being invited to bat and posting 359 on the board. Australia had won all 11 matches in that edition in South Africa, completing a double against India.
This time, however, it’s India who are the unbeaten side with 10 wins in as many outings, including a six-wicket victory over Australia in their tournament opener in Chennai. Australia, on the other hand, would start their campaign with back-to-back defeats, getting outplayed by South Africa in Lucknow after the defeat against India, before scripting a superb comeback with eight wins in a row to enter the World Cup final for an eighth time.
Both teams stave off spirited fightbacks in the semis to book their place in Sunday’s clash; India defeated New Zealand by 70 runs in Mumbai while Australia pipped South Africa by three wickets in a thriller in Kolkata.
Rain hasn’t made as many appearances in the World Cup this year as it had back in 2019 in England, where quite a few games were washed out or had to be shortened.
Read | PM Modi, Dhoni likely to attend IND-AUS World Cup final in Ahmedabad
The New Zealand-Pakistan match in Bengaluru had to be abandoned although the match did achieve a result by Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method due to the second innings reaching the 20-over mark. Pakistan had beaten the Black Caps by 21 runs despite conceding a first innings total of 401 to keep their faint semi-final hopes alive.
Rain would also make a brief appearance during Thursday’s semi-final between Australia and South Africa at Eden Gardens during the first innings, although it never intensified beyond a drizzle and the play resumed shortly after.
Rain isn’t expected in Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad either, with the city expected to get ‘Plenty of Sun’ during the day, according to the forecast on Accuweather.com. That doesn’t mean the ICC doesn’t have contingency plans in place in case of a sudden downpour from out of nowhere.
What happens if it rains in the final?
The playing conditions in case of a rain interruption or a possible washout remain the same for the final as it was for the semi-finals.
The World Cup final will also go into the ‘Reserve Day’ on Monday in case of a washout on Sunday so that should give the match officials and the two sides enough time for a result first up.
The ICC also has a rule in place in case the match gets washed out even after two days, and no, we’re not getting into a boundary-count deciding the title for a second consecutive time. That rule has been shelved, and for good reason.
Instead the trophy will go to the team that finished higher at the end of the group stage, which in this case will be the Men in Blue who collected nine wins in as many outings with the best Net Run Rate (+2.570).
Before we get to a washout however, there are other rules that will come in place to try and enforce a result.
If the match gets interrupted or delayed due to rain or some other unavoidable situation, then a total of two hours of extra time will be provided — which means no overs will be deducted if two hours worth of game time are lost to rain. Beyond two hours, overs will start getting deducted on the basis of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method (an over for every five minutes lost).
Additionally, the match will be moved to a Reserve Day only if the minimum number of overs required to constitute a match — which according to the ICC is 20 – cannot be bowled on the schedule day, i.e. Sunday.
from Firstpost Sports Latest News https://ift.tt/45dXBep
No comments:
Post a Comment