What If India’s Match Against Zimbabwe Gets Washed Out? Will Rain Dent India’s Semi Final Hopes?

With their victory over Bangladesh, the Indian cricket team made significant progress in the Group 2 T20 World Cup 2022 semi-finals qualification battle. Whereas Pakistan, Bangladesh, and South Africa are still in the running, their place in the knockout rounds isn’t yet certain. The Proteas’ defeat over Pakistan has significantly opened up their possibility of semi-finals qualification. Meanwhile, India will seal their semi-final berth if they defeat Zimbabwe in their final Super 12 game.

The big question is, what will happen if the rain god becomes spoil-sport?

This year’s T20 World Cup has been plagued by rain. Several games have been washed out. Although the rain curse has not been that lethal in Group 2, it has caused some significant matches to be abandoned in the other group, creating a chaotic situation from the perspective of semi-finals qualification.

India now holds the top spot in Group 2 with 6 points, followed by South Africa (5 points) and Pakistan (4 points). India and Zimbabwe will receive one point each in case of a washout. India will hence finish with 7 points.

In this case, India would qualify for the semifinals but wouldn’t be guaranteed to advance as the group leader. In this scenario, South Africa would have the chance to top the group if it defeated the Netherlands owing to their higher Net Run Rate.

Additionally, only if South Africa loses against the Netherlands, then only the winner of the match between Pakistan and Bangladesh can advance to the semifinals. Pakistan and Bangladesh would be eliminated from the competition if the Proteas win as South Africa and India would each have 7 points.

Notably, there are no reserve days for the group matches in the T20 World Cup. Only the knockout games have a reserve day if matchday gets washed away by rain.