World Cup 2019: What if the semi-final game ends in a tie?

The ICC World Cup 2019 has been marred with rains and three matches have been abandoned due to wet conditions and one match started, but couldn’t be completed as incessant rains poured down. Fans of all the countries are checking for the weather more than the scores to keep an eye on the clouds and if there will be any intrusion.

Such a situation has led to the fans flipping through the rule book to see what is the qualification scenario for the semi-finals if more than one teams finish on equal points after the group stages. The semi-finalists are to be decided according to the final standings of the points table, with the top-four placed teams making the cut. Each win earns teams two points and a washout results in the points being shared one each according to the points system.

Here is how things work for semi-finals qualification

In case two teams end up with equal points, then the Net Run Rate will come into the picture. The team with a higher NRR goes through. The rule book defines net run rate as, “A team’s net run rate is calculated by deducting from the average runs per over scored by that team throughout the competition, the average runs per over scored against that team throughout the competition.”

Only matches which have achieved results are considered for the calculations of NRR. Where a match is abandoned, but a result is achieved under Duckworth-Lewis Stern, for net run rate purposes Team 1 will be credited with Team 2’s Par Score on the abandonment of the same number of overs faced by Team 2. In a match where the DLS is applied to the earlier point in the match, Team 1 will get one run less than the final target score for Team 2, off the total number over overs allocated to them to achieve the said target.

If the teams are not separated and still have the same net run rate, then the team that won the match with the other team on the same points, go through. Even then, if the teams cannot be separated then ICC’s pre-tournament team seedings will come into effect, which is known as “League Stage seedings”.

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ICC League Stage seedings:

1. South Africa

2. India

3. Australia

4. England

5. New Zealand

6. Pakistan

7. Bangladesh

8. Sri Lanka

9. Afghanistan

10. West Indies

What if the semi-final is a tie?

Once the teams go through to the knockouts, what happens if a semi-final match ends as tie. Both teams score equal runs at the end of the game. In that case, Super Over will come into effect. In case the match is hampered by rain ICC has the provision for a reserve day for both the semi-finals and final.

In case the semi-final is washed out, the team with a better position on the points table will go through to the finals, and if final is washed out on both the days, the ICC World Cup trophy will be shared.