According to an IMD update, there is a low-pressure area forming over west-central West Bengal on Wednesday (November 15) that might form into rain the next day. Australia play South Africa on November 16.
Kolkata: Rain, along with a literal storm is likely to play spoilsport on Thursday when South Africa take on Australia in an all-important ODI World Cup 2023 semifinal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. However, there is a Reserve Day in place for both the semifinals and the final in the ongoing competition.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department, there is a possibility of a low-pressure region forming over west-central West Bengal on Wednesday (November 15) that might form into rain the next day.
“It (the low-pressure area) is likely to move west-north westwards and intensify into a Depression over West-central Bay of Bengal on 15th November 2023,” read a bulletin from IMD. Thereafter, it would move northwestwards and may intensify into a Deep Depression over west-central Bay of Bengal off Andhra Pradesh coast on 16th November,” it added.
The bulletin means that many places will receive moderate rainfall on November 16 but isolated heavy rainfall over coastal districts of Odisha & West Bengal on 16th and the day after. In case of rain on November 16, the match will move to its Reserve Day on November 17.
If at all there is no play possible on the Reserve Day as well, then the team who finished on top in the points table after the league stage will progress into the final set to be played on Sunday. In that scenario, South Africa will prevail, having finished ahead of Australia in the points table.
Both South Africa and Australia finished their league engagements on 14 points but the former finished second due to a better net run rate. Meanwhile, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) is hopeful that the match will go as planned.
Even if it rains on Thursday, there will be no problems in staging the game the next day provided there are no incessant rains. “We can cover the ground end to end and there will be no issues if it rains overnight. The drainage system here is upgraded and we can have the ground ready in no time, provided there are no incessant rains,” CAB president Snehasish Ganguly was quoted as saying to CricketNext.com.