Manchester: It looks like the reserve day for the India-New Zealand World Cup semifinal will also be rain affected. The weather forecast for July 10 states that there will be light rain in the morning. The afternoon will be partly cloudy with intermittent showers followed be heavy rains in the evening. So rains will continue to play spoilsport during the game even Wednesday.
If there is no rain interruption then the match will start on time and New Zealand will begin from where they left off Tuesday at 211 for five after 46.1 overs with Ross Taylor batting on 67 and Tom Latham on three.
However, if the match is truncated and the Kiwi innings closes at their overnight score then a target will be set for India by enforcing the D/L rule. However, to consider the match valid, India will have to bat a minimum of 20 overs at least. If that doesn’t happens India will go into the final of the World Cup for finishing on top of the group.
India’s DLS target broken up in overs
46 overs 237
40 overs 223
35 overs 209
30 overs 192
25 overs 172
20 overs 148
Keeping in mind the slowness of the pitch, the rain may give New Zealand a sniff of a chance of winning the semifinal. It will always be a difficult proposition to maintain a scoring rate of six-plus runs per over. The heavy outfield will also come into effect and affect the quickness of the surface. Hence boundaries may be limited to tow-s and three-s. Overall under present conditions here, it will not be an easy task for the Men in Blue.
Agencies
