NEW DELHI, Nov 14: India takes on New Zealand at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai in the first semi-final of the on-going cricket World Cup on Tuesday and in the event of a wash-out despite the extra hours and the reserve day, India will advance to the final because of better standing in the league table.
Similarly in the event of wash out of the second semi-final to be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday, South Africa will reach the finals having better standing than Australia as per the playing conditions of the World Cup.
India ended at the top spot in the points table by winning nine out of nine games in the league stage. When the two teams met in the semi-final of Cricket World Cup in 2019, New Zealand defeated India by 18 runs. This time, India must be hoping to produce a different result.
As per the playing conditions set by the International Cricket Council, there will be extra time of 120 minutes each allocated to the semi-final and final matches. However, even if a match does not come to a conclusion on the scheduled day, then a reserve day will come into play. If a result could not be obtained even on the reserve day then the team which finished at a better position in the points table will advance to the final.
India finished at the first spot in the points table while New Zealand ended at the fourth position. Meanwhile, South Africa and Australia ended at the second and third spots, respectively.
The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai is a balanced track and is likely to stay intact throughout the match. The average score in the first innings in the last 10 matches at this stadium is 318. Fielding first is recommended at the venue, with the team batting second winning 60 per cent of its matches. The pacers have taken 83% of the total wickets at this venue. The temperature at the Wankhede Stadium is expected to be around 28 degrees Celsius with 49 per cent humidity.
India and New Zealand have competed against each other on 117 occasions in ODIs. While India have won 59 matches, New Zealand have emerged victorious in 50 encounters. Meanwhile, one match ended in a tie and seven games yielded no results.
The last five ODI contests have seen India win four times while New Zealand have failed to register a single win. The highest score in these five matches is 385 by India while the lowest has been 104 by New Zealand. The team batting first has won 24 times and lost 28 times in 57 matches, on the other hand, the chasing side has won on 35 occasions and lost 22 times in 60 matches.
(Manas Dasgupta)