Bengaluru's yellow alert puts New Zealand's World Cup semis at risk

New Zealand’s World Cup 2023 semi-final hopes are at risk of getting drenched after several parts of South India, including Bengaluru which has a 'yellow alert' with high chances of rain washing out their game against Sri Lanka today. 

What

• Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy stadium will witness New Zealand going all out against the controversy-stricken Sri Lanka side to ensure a semi-final place in the World Cup. Still, their hopes look to be threatened by the weather. 

• Bengaluru is on a yellow alert until November 10, 2023, raising the chance of rain affecting the much-important match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

• With thunderstorms expected to hit Bengaluru, the match has a high probability of being called off and dividing the points equally between the two teams. 
• The city has seen heavy rain for the past few days, prompting a yellow alert from the MET department, which happens when daily rainfall ranges from 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm.
• New Zealand's last World Cup match against Pakistan in this World Cup was also at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and Pakistan was declared the winner under the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern (DLS) method.

How will rain affect the World Cup semis? 

• New Zealand, led by Tom Latham, currently sits fourth in the points table, holding the edge in Net Run Rate over Pakistan and Afghanistan, with 8 points from 8 matches each.
• A win against Sri Lanka could secure New Zealand's spot in the semifinals, aiming for a record-equalling 9th appearance.

What if the match is called off?

• If the New Zealand vs Sri Lanka match gets rained out, both teams will get a point each.
• New Zealand, currently at 8 points, will then have 9 points in their bag. 
• After this, all of New Zealand’s chances of qualifying for the semis will lie on the assumption that both Pakistan and Afghanistan lose their upcoming matches by a significant margin. 

• Both Pakistan and Afghanistan will aim to use New Zealand's misfortune to secure the last available semi-final spot in the World Cup.
• In case of a washout today, Pakistan will need to defeat England in their upcoming fixture to directly book a place for them in the semi-final against India. 
• On the other hand, Afghanistan can qualify if they beat South Africa, but will also need to win by a big margin due to their low net run rate.

The match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka will start at 2 pm today.