- Rain is forecast for Thursday’s World Cup semi-final
- Worse conditions are expected for Friday
- South Africa will progress to final if match is washed out
Australia‘s chances of qualifying for the Cricket World Cup final may be ruined by bad weather, as a cyclone bears down on Kolkata ahead of Thursday’s semifinal against South Africa.
Australia and the Proteas both finished the round robin stage of the tournament on 14 points, but South Africa took second spot due to a better run rate.
The India Meteorological Department says a ‘cyclonic circulation’ had entered the south Andaman Sea from the Gulf of Thailand.
‘Under the influence of this system, a low pressure is likely to form over the southeast Bay of Bengal by Tuesday,’ the department said on Monday.
The weather system has potential to develop into a cyclone, and is headed towards the Kolkata region of the country, where Thursday’s semi-final will be held.
A ‘cyclonic circulation’ is threatening to rob Australia of making the World Cup final
Rain is forecast for Kolkata for both Thursday and Friday. If the match is washed out then the Proteas will progress through to the World Cup final
The forecast for the area (as of Tuesday) says there’s a 60 per cent chance of rain occurring on Thursday. Those chances increase to 90 per cent for Friday.
Friday is the reserve day – and if that is also washed out then second-placed South Africa would go through ahead of the third-placed Aussies.
South Africa are looking to make their first World Cup final after falling short in the semis on four separate occasions.
Whether it be Herschelle Gibbs’ infamous dropped catch at the 1999 World Cup or the Proteas’ record-breaking 434 run-chase in 2006 – any time South Africa and Australia face off in a One-Day International – fans can expect fireworks.
Despite losing to the Proteas in the group stage, the Aussies have strung together seven straight wins and Mitchell Starc believes they will topple them in the semi-final.
‘Probably both teams have kept a close eye on each other and from a few games back we knew we’re probably going to face each other in the semi-finals,’ he told media on Monday.
‘Whether they feel differently, it’s obviously been spoken about outside of their group.
‘I don’t know whether there’s any inside (talk from South Africa), but we’ve had past players talk about it.’
The Proteas are looking to make their first World Cup final after falling over at the semifinal stage on four occasions
‘I know they’re a very different group, certainly to 2015. You can always read into these things as much as you like.
‘For us, it’s certainly talking and thinking about what we can do the right way or how we can approach it or our mindset to it rather than in what they’re going to do so much.’