 "India vs South Africa, Women's World Cup final: What happens if rain washes out marquee clash in Navi Mumbai?")
The 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup had several games affected by rain, either resulting in washouts or curtailed games, and the final between India and South Africa turned out to be no different, with the toss getting delayed due to a heavy downpour.
LIVE | India vs South Africa, ICC Women's World Cup final in Navi Mumbai
Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium has had its fair share of rain during the course of the tournament, with India’s face-off against New Zealand losing overs in both innings and their subsequent match against Bangladesh ending in a No Result.
And while the semi-final against Australia did not witness too many interruptions, with players and umpires having to retreat to the sidelines just once, rain has returned with a vengeance in the final, and threatens to play spoilsport in one of the most eagerly anticipated matches in the history of Indian cricket.
ICC’s rain rules for Women’s World Cup final explained
What happens, though, if the World Cup final between India and South Africa - the first such showdown to not feature either Australia or England – is washed out on Sunday?
As the ICC’s Playing Conditions for the 13th edition of the Women’s World Cup, there is a ‘Reserve Day’ in place for the final. So if play is not possible at all on Sunday, then the two teams will face off on the following day for the ultimate prize in women’s cricket, even if in a curtailed contest.
And if the match does get underway on Sunday and a few overs are bowled the remainder of the day is washed out, then the game will resume on Monday from where it left off on the previous day. For match officials, however, the priority will be to ensure that a result is achieved on Sunday itself, even if it means deciding a winner in a 20-over contest.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAdditionally, if no play is possible either on the scheduled day of the final or on the ‘Reserve Day’, then the trophy will be shared between India and South Africa.
Here are the playing conditions for the Women’s World Cup final:
– The match officials are to make every effort to complete the game on the original scheduled day, with any necessary reduction in overs.
– If the 50-over game is interrupted by rain on the scheduled day, then there needs to be a reduction in overs depending on the amount of time lost. If no further play is possible even after reducing the overs, then the contest needs to be reverted to a 50-over game on the reserve day.
– However, if the play does resume on the scheduled day of the final after the overs are reduced, and then rain intervenes once again, the reduction of overs will be carried over to the reserve day. The minimum overs needed for a result is 20 overs per side.
– If rain washes out the reserve day as well, then both teams will share the trophy as they would be declared the joint winners.
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