Arsenal toil to just about do enough, but it may mean an awful lot more.
Mikel Arteta’s minimalism led to what was almost the maximum outcome on the night at Brighton, as a 1-0 victory ensured they went seven points clear at the top with a game more played. The news that Manchester City had drawn 2-2 with Nottingham Forest was greeted by even greater celebration from the Arsenal travelling support than their own final whistle. Moments later, for the first time this season, they were singing “we’re gonna win the league”.
That might yet tempt fate but it’s hard to begrudge them given how big this felt for the season. There have nevertheless rarely been matches so potentially seismic that were so muted – at least until Fabian Hurzeler’s press conference started. “I will never be the type of manager who tries to win that way,” he said. It was still Arsenal that won, though.
The post-match theatre was consequently one of those where multiple things were party correct: Hurzeler had a point, but also missed the point, and yet Arsenal could also heed some of what he said, at least in terms of not wanting to live too many games like this. But then a win in these circumstances, to bring it full circle, may actually release Arsenal and prevent that.
It wasn’t a riproaring game.
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Arsenal secured the lead from Bukayo Saka’s fortuitous opener… and that was pretty much that. Mikel Arteta’s side duly kept their first clean sheet in five, since the 7 February 3-0 win over Sunderland, which may also prove highly significant.
But that is important because it will go someway to ease all of this angst, still palpable throughout this match. City’s result instead means Arsenal are now also on the longest winning run in the Premier League, at three.
Not for the first time this season, mind, this one probably didn’t need to feel so tense.
When asked whether he remonstrated with Arteta about time-wasting, Hurzeler just said “there were so many”. He also repeatedly argued the Premier League need to look at the rules.
Arteta’s response was a simple and sarcastic: “What a surprise?”
When asked whether he cares what other managers say, the Basque simply said “depends”. On who? “Yeah. And the comments… and the purpose.”
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Bukayo Saka gave Arsenal an early lead (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)
Before debating the actual merits of such arguments and the mechanics of the game, the extra psychological layer of Wednesday’s results should be acknowledged.
This was probably the kind of night when it was expected that Arsenal might slip in an awkward away game as City won a forgiving home game, only for the reverse to happen. For Arteta, the damage of that 2-2 draw away to Wolves is undone. For now.
The night’s results should nevertheless remain a warning that this is highly unlikely to be a straight line to the end, in the way the 2018-19 season was, say. Arsenal have to be conscious of how the competitiveness of the Premier League brings a new and constant danger of dropping points, which is why they probably still have to be conscious of performance. While Hurzeler had that spiky comment on how he wouldn’t want to play that way – which Arteta refused to comment on – and there’s obviously been wider debate about whether you’d want to win to win the league that way, the Basque himself wouldn’t want to play every game like this.
It creates too much psychological toil, but that points to a wider pattern.
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Mikel Arteta brushed off the frequent criticism of his side (Getty Images)
There have been times this season when Arsenal have anxiously toiled for a goal, which is why a fortuitous strike like Saka’s must feel like such a reprieve – and maybe like they were due. There are certainly those among Arteta’s staff who believe that the club have been unlucky in many games, where the scoreline has not reflected the xG.
So here was Saka suddenly cutting inside to try a surprise long shot – in the way some demand he should do more – that had an xG of 0.01. It duly took a deflection to wrong-foot Bart Verbruggen.
And yet, as has been the case in many recent games, Arsenal didn’t press on. Their next shot didn’t even come until the second half. Brighton were allowed to control play, if not quite force it. It was so familiar to so many recent Arsenal matches – but also familiar to so many recent Brighton matches. That Joao Pedro had a hat-trick performance for Chelsea against Aston Villa was so pointed, since he is one talent that the club have not managed to replace. Kaoru Mitoma was allowed to roam without doing much. Brighton are so well structured until the final third, which then gradually erodes some momentum. Hurzeler’s complaints sound a little more embittered when you consider Brighton only created 0.8xG themselves.
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Maybe that’s why Arsenal let them have the ball, but recent patterns suggest there are other reasons. Arteta evidently doesn’t want this. He can often be seen urgently gesturing to his players to get up the pitch. While Arteta has rightly been criticised for a certain conservatism, his general ideology is fundamentally based on players taking the ball on in possession. That does involve some risk, or at least a willingness to constantly be proactive.
Defeat for Manchester City kept Arsenal a step ahead in the title race (Action Images via Reuters)
One of the things that visibly happens with Arsenal in such situations, however, is that too many players stop doing it. They don’t take the step up. It might be subtle, sometimes almost imperceptible, but the cumulative effect is that they become vulnerable. It seems obvious this is down to the psychology that comes with so badly desiring to win this first title in 22 years – which is where Hurzeler misses the point a bit. It’s now about how you prefer to win. It’s about winning.
That approach can still mean just one slip changes everything, which Arsenal now know all well – not least from this very fixture last season. Arsenal’s 2024-25 title challenger arguably first faltered when they went 1-0 up against Brighton early on only for a contentious penalty to bring a damaging 1-1 draw.
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This has the potential to be similar. The feeling had been that Arsenal might get caught and, if they didn’t, too many needlessly contained performances like this would gradually erode their edge. This time, though, it didn’t happen. Arsenal beat Brighton.
And the manner in which last season’s situation was reversed may be symbolic, as well as significant. Crucially, it may also ease Arsenal and bolster reassurance to the point they may not suffer this type of game again soon.
The profile of attackers does help. Arsenal immediately looked more lively when Kai Havertz came on for Viktor Gyokeres. The German just offers more control.
Arsenal now have full control of the title race, for the first time in weeks. They did what they needed. They have just been given fair warning this isn’t a pattern to repeat.
Many observers of the life and times of Tiger Woods would know he has won 15 major championships and 82 PGA Tour events. But here are two other numbers at the core of the Tiger Woods Numerology Experience: 9 and 8, and that’s not a reference to a Stephen Ames match-play result. (But, since we’re there: check out this golden oldie, from the Match Play Championship, 20 years ago.) The main reference here is to the eight times Woods won Arnold Palmer’s tournament, and to the nine occasions he won USGA national championships. That is, his three USGA junior titles, his three U.S. Ams, plus his three U.S. Open wins at a holy trinity of public courses: Pebble Beach (2000), Bethpage Black (’02) and Torrey Pines (’09).
Also: Woods eight victories at Bay Hill? They came in a 14-year span, all full-field(ish) events. Astonishing.
If Woods had done nothing else in the game, that monumental run alone would put him in the pantheon.
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Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge (its full name), where the fellas are playing this week dreaming about the $4 million winner’s payday, is a living tribute to Arnold Palmer his own self. Maybe someday Tiger will get a bridge at Bay Hill named for him or something. For now, you can see his name eight times on metal plaques underfoot at the club’s Champions Walk. In 2022, the R&A made Woods a member of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, which gives him preferred tee times at the Old Course, among other privileges. He has a lifetime honorary membership at Augusta National, care of his first win there, in 1997. (He’s had four more Masters wins since then.) There’s a Tiger Woods Villa at Trump Doral, where Woods has won seven times. But the biggest thing is the most recent thing, straight out of Pinehurst, N.C., and the USGA HQ.
What the USGA did last week, at least when viewed through the prism of eternity, will top the other honors cited here: Golf’s most influential and tradition-minded organizing body (or at least right up there with the R&A), announced that from here on out the winner of the U.S. Amateur will receive the Tiger Woods Medal, and the winner of the USGA junior title for boys will receive the Tiger Woods Trophy. As for the phrase here on out, let’s get it down to one word: forever.
But wait — there’s more.
The subtext here seems obvious but it’s hiding in plain sight. If there was ever any question about whether Tiger Woods was ever going to go LIV, the USGA answered that question with this news of naming rights of the freebie kind. Hang close here: The USGA, by political temperament and mission statement, is not going to align itself with LIV Golf or a LIV player in meaningful way. The two groups are just too . . . different. Along those same lines, nobody with a LIV Golf association is likely to ever receive the Bob Jones Award, the USGA’s most celebrated honor. At the annual pro-member event at Seminole Golf Club, a USGA winter hangout if ever there was one, you never see LIV players in the field. Similar logic, really.
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Nobody from the inside would say this out loud, but there really is a USGA-LIV Golf divide. That’s because LIV Golf is a for-profit business, and its business model is rooted in selling star-driven golf. The USGA is golf’s equivalent of a great university, with a teaching-research hospital in its backyard. A core value of the USGA, if not the core value, is merit. Shoot the scores (while playing by the rules), get the prizes, no matter your life story. J.J. Spaun’s win at the U.S. Open last year at Oakmont was out of the merit tradition. When Spaun was a walk-on golfer at San Diego State in 2008, nobody was predicting he would win the Open. He got better at golf. That is, he made himself better. It takes your breath away, because the odds are hugely against you.
The byword of Tiger’s life in golf is merit. The presenting sponsor of the numbers being dropped here (82, 15, 9, 8) is . . . Merit Inc. The PGA Tour on which Tiger was born and raised, the same. Merit, merit, merit. Woods’s origin story — raised by a Black father who grew up in tough circumstances in a segregated America and by an immigrant mother from Thailand — cannot be overstated. What the USGA is saying here, by naming these great pieces of hardware for Tiger Woods, is that the doors of golf are open to all. This naming business is low-cost, but a big deal.
The PGA Tour, in a naked attempt to make sure it does not lose more star players to LIV Golf, has done a number of things that come right out of the LIV Golf playbook. The whole model for the PGA Tour’s Signature events, including this week’s API, is borrowed from LIV Golf. The creation of the PGA Tour’s for-profit division — PGA Tour Enterprises, with its private-equity investors — is another nod to LIV. (Woods is the vice chairman of E.) The field this week at Bay Hill comprises only 72 players — so LIV. (That number would leave Arnold Palmer ill.) There’s a goofy 36-hole cut for the top-50 and ties, or any player within 10 shots of the lead. That bit of bookkeeping is really a nod to Arnold’s belief in the sanctity of the cut as an elemental part of tournament golf, and that’s really all it is.
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And let’s not get all high-and-mighty about the role of the USGA in the game. In negotiating TV rights and choosing venues for U.S. Opens, the USGA can take its leads right from the Gordon Gekko (“greed is good”) playbook.
But we’re here today to put a trophy on a pedestal. These new USGA prizes, the Tiger Woods Trophy and the Tiger Woods Medal, they tell a great deal. That every player managed by Mark Steinberg, Tiger’s longtime agent, is not a LIV Golf golfer, the same — it’s telling. And this is what’s being said. In theory and really in practice, anybody can grow up to win a USGA championship. When you get right down to it, that’s everything. Arnold did it. (He was 24 when he won the U.S. Amateur.) Spaun did it. Bob Jones (nine USGA titles) did it. Ben Hogan did it. And so did, most spectacularly, Tiger. The Tiger Woods Trophy. The Tiger Woods Medal. How fitting.
Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois are set to collide in two months’ time, with the WBO heavyweight title at stake. Now, American heavyweight Jarrell Miller has offered his thoughts ahead of the contest, having history with both men.
18 months after defeat to Dubois, ’Big Baby’ was set to travel across the pond for a first fight on British soil, scheduled to face Wardley at Portman Road – home of Ipswich Town Football Club.
That win over New Zealand’s Parker saw Wardley claim the WBO Interim title, and he was upgraded to WBO world champion soon after. Against Dubois, he takes on a difficult challenge for his first defence, one which Miller told New Betting Offers will go one of two ways.
“It’s a 50-50 in my book, and I’ll tell you the reason why. We’ve seen Wardley hurt many times in fights, but he’s durable. He’s mentally strong, he hangs in there, and he’s throwing hard punches to the last round.
“We know Dubois hits hard and has a really good chin, but mentally, he’s not durable. If his dad doesn’t stay in his ear for those 12 rounds, there are fights where he’s quit, mentally disengaged after getting caught with shots, and kind of given up.
“So, he’s probably going to start off pretty strong, but if Wardley can hang in there, I’m thinking a late stoppage for Wardley, or an early night win for Dubois.”
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Wardley-Dubois takes place on Saturday, May 9, at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, for what looks set to be another scintillating all-British affair for the coveted heavyweight throne.
A fresh report has indicated how much Liverpool would need to pay if they’re to beat fellow suitors Manchester United to the signing of a higly coveted Bundesliga winger.
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The Reds have been heavily linked with a swoop for Yan Diomande of RB Leipzig, with a trusted source in David Lynch outlining that the Anfield hierarchy are ‘keeping an eye on‘ the 19-year-old, while German insider Christian Falk has gone as far as to claim that an offer is already being planned.
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Liverpool learn Yan Diomande asking price
According to Football Insider, the Red Bull-owned club are ready to be met with ‘big offers’ for the teenage forward, with the northwestern rivals preparing to accelerate their interest in him.
The Bundesliga side are reluctant to sell the Ivory Coast international but have accepted that they would cash in at the right price, with Liverpool and Manchester United reportedly needing to stump up a bid of around £80m if they’re to snap up Diomande in the summer.
Diomande has been outperforming Liverpool’s starting wingers
Hailed as a ‘young jewel’ by RB Leipzig managing director for sport Marcel Schafer (Sky Sports), the teenager hit double figures for goals this season when netting his team’s winner against Hamburg last weekend.
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The 19-year-old – who’s capable of playing on either flank – has a higher goal return than both Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah in the current campaign, despite playing fewer minutes than the two Liverpool wingers.
The aforementioned Lynch wrote this week that a move for Diomande would make ‘a lot of sense’ given how the Reds’ wide attackers have endured a significant drop-off in output from last term, and even Arne Slot admitted that his team struggled in those positions in their defeat to Wolves on Tuesday night (David Lynch on Substack).
RB Leipzig are in line to turn a massive profit on a player they signed from Leganes for just £17m last summer (Football Insider), and paying upwards of £80m for a youngster who’s still inexperienced at a high level would certainly represent a massive gamble.
However, the Ivorian’s G/A figures from the current campaign (10 goals, seven assists) would indicate that he has the end product to go with his eye-catching talent, and Liverpool mustn’t stand idly by and give their arch-rivals a free run at his signature.
The Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs lock horns in a regular-season game at the Frost Bank Center on Thursday, with tipoff at 8 p.m. EST. It is the second matchup between the two teams this season, with the Spurs winning the first encounter 114-103.
The Pistons suffered a 113-109 loss in their previous game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. They no longer hold the best record in the league, but remain in first place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 45-15 record.
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Meanwhile, the Spurs destroyed the Philadelphia 76ers 131-91 in their previous outing on Tuesday. San Antonio remains in second place in the Western Conference standings with a 44-17 record.
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Detroit Pistons vs. San Antonio Spurs Preview, Starting Lineups Tonight, Betting Tips and Game Prediction
Detroit Pistons vs. San Antonio Spurs Betting Tips and Odds
Moneyline: Pistons (+132), Spurs (-156)
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Spread: Pistons +3.5 (-111), Spurs -3.5 (-111)
Total over/under o/u: Pistons o228.5 (-111), Spurs u228.5 (-111)
Editor’s note: Odds might change closer to tipoff.
Betting Tips
Victor Wembanyama is expected to record over 3.5 blocks.
Cade Cunningham is expected to record under 23.5 points.
Jalen Duren is expected to record over 11.5 rebounds.
Detroit Pistons vs. San Antonio Spurs Preview
Cade Cunningham has been hot and cold of late, which has adversely affected the Pistons. Against the Cavaliers, Cunningham scored 10 points on 16 shots, while turning the ball over five times. Detroit needs its best player to raise his level and bounce back with an MVP-level performance against the Spurs.
Jalen Duren has been the Pistons’ best player recently, averaging 25.5 points and 13.7 rebounds on 64.4% shooting. He enters this matchup after winning the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award. The Pistons need him to win his matchup against Victor Wembanyama, just like he did when the two teams met last month.
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Meanwhile, the Spurs will face a much stronger challenge against the Pistons than they did against the Sixers on Tuesday. San Antonio made Philadelphia look like a G League team and shot over 55% from the field, including 40% from beyond the arc.
The starters delivered a rollicking performance as usual, and the bench contributed handsomely as well, with rookie Dylan Harper putting on a show off the bench. The young guard made eight of his 11 shots en route to 22 points. Keldon Johnson scored 12 off the bench, helping the Spurs record the most dominant win of their campaign.
Detroit Pistons vs. San Antonio Spurs Starting Lineups Tonight
The Spurs are at home and already beaten the Pistons once this season. San Antonio would be confident of getting the job done once again and we expect Wembanyama to lead his team to yet another victory.
Jai Opetaia has consistently voiced his plans to become the undisputed cruiserweight world champion, but that dream may be about to fade, with reports suggesting that the Aussie has been given an ultimatum just four days before his fight with Brandon Glanton.
Opetaia won the IBF cruiserweight world title when he overcame Mairis Briedis in 2022, but he was stripped of the belt after just one title defence after opting to fight Ellis Zorro in Saudi Arabia, a fight which the IBF refused to sanction.
Back in January, the unbeaten southpaw signed with Zuffa Boxing – a decision which confused fight fans due to Dana White’s plans to phase out the four traditional belts.
“There is a lot of things that are happening behind the scenes and I am a proud fighter that won the IBF fair and square, and I am happy to hold that belt.
“Whether we defend it [against Glanton] or not, I am not sure, but I will be defending it. Whether it’s in this one or the next one.
“It is my mission to become undisputed, so I don’t become undisputed without the IBF as well.
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“[There is no danger of me being stripped] that I know of. I don’t think there is any danger.”
Now, just 96 hours before facing Glanton, ESPN’s Salvador Rodriguez has reported that the IBF have informed Opetaia that he must pick whether to fight for the Zuffa title or for their belt.
“Sources: IBF has requested Jai Opetaia to make a decision on the title he’ll be fighting for this weekend. He can either defend the IBF title or fight for the promoter’s belt, but not both.”
Sources: IBF has requested Jai Opetaia to make a decision on the title he’ll be fighting for this weekend. He can either defend the IBF title or fight for the promoter’s belt, but not both.
Being the marquee signing of Zuffa Boxing, and should this report be accurate, it is expected that Opetaia will elect to fight for the Zuffa belt and then hope that the IBF do not strip him and thus scupper his plans to challenge the victor of Ramirez-Benavidez for the unified cruiserweight throne.
SCG will play host to Thursday’s
Round 1 AFL game between Sydney Swans and
Carlton Blues. The game kicks off at 7:30 pm with Sydney Swans heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Sydney Swans vs.
Carlton Blues
game and give you our free tips and bets.
The 2026 AFL season begins under lights at the SCG, where Sydney hosts Carlton in a season-opener rich with storylines. All eyes will be on Charlie Curnow as he lines up in red and white against his former club, having requested a trade from the Blues in a deal that saw Will Hayward and three first-round picks head to Princes Park.
Carlton enters the new campaign in transition after a nine-win 2025, farewelling Sam Docherty to retirement while Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni joined St Kilda. The Swans also fell short of expectations, missing the finals for just the fourth time in 23 years despite 12 wins.
Sydney claimed a 16-point victory in this fixture last season, with Isaac Heeney starring in a dominant midfield display. Thursday night shapes as an early litmus test for both clubs’ new eras.
In less than four weeks, Derek Chisora and Deontay Wilder will step into the ring for their landmark 50th professional bouts.
Ahead of the fight, Tony Bellew has provided his prediction, where he believes one man will go through the other ‘like a knife through butter’.
A two-time world title challenger, Chisora’s recent string of victories has seen him rise the rankings and and come close to a possible third shot at the heavyweight crown, with belts expected to soon fragment.
Although, in an interview with First Round Boxing, Chisora’s good friend and fellow British boxing fan-favourite, Bellew, believes ‘Del Boy’ will not walk away from the sport following his dust-up with Wilder.
“No, I don’t think it is [his last fight]. I don’t think that he will ever retire from boxing. Boxing will retire that lunatic, he won’t retire from boxing, which is sad.”
As for the fight itself, Bellew admitted that he would have been concerned if the fight was made a few years prior, but that he now favours Chisora over the American, due to his superior hunger and will to win.
“If this fight would have been made three or four years ago, it would have probably caused murder.
But, at this stage now, I think that he [Derek] will come through a few dodgy moments in the first couple of rounds and then he will go right through him [Wilder], like a knife through butter, in the second half of the fight.
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“Wilder is always going to have that punch, but I just don’t believe that he actually wants it, the way that Del wants it. I think that has been apparent in his last few fights.”
Scottie Scheffler has a little reminder for those who might be worried about his slow starts.
But before we get to that, here’s a refresher: Scheffler, the top golfer on the planet, has a victory and finished in the top 12 in all four of his starts this season. That’s pretty good for anyone, but what’s peculiar for him is that, save for his victory at the American Express in his first start of the year, he’s opened the last three tournaments with 74, 72 and 73 in the first rounds.
Very un-Scottie Scheffler-like. And those rough opening rounds have been just enough to keep him out of the winner’s circle. He’s tied for 117th in first-round scoring average this season (70.50), trailing Chris Gotterup by about five full shots (65.80).
This week, Scheffler is back at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla., for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a tournament he’s won twice and never finished worse than 15th. On Wednesday, he was asked about those slow starts and if there’s anything he might do differently pre-round to fix them. This is where he offered a reality check.
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“Last year on Tour I led the Tour in first-round, second-round, third-round and fourth-round scoring,” he said. “So I’m not too concerned over a very small sample size.”
He’s right! How quickly we forget.
In fact, Scheffler’s opening rounds have been where he’s at his best. His scoring average in the first round last year (67.45) was better than his Tour-leading averages in the second (68.0), third (68.40) and fourth (68.10) rounds.
Go back another season and he led the Tour in scoring average in the first (67.84) and second (67.53) rounds in 2024. And then turn back the clock one more year, to 2023, and his 67.91 first-round scoring average also led the Tour.
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So to recap: should we really worry about the guy who has played better opening rounds than anyone else in each of the past three years? Probably not.
“When you look at the body of work for me this year, I played four tournaments, so that’s 16 rounds,” Scheffler said. “And I’ve always been a guy that’s been really good at staying in the present, doing what I need to do in order to go out and play well. And so at 16 rounds I’ve had 13 that have been really solid and three that haven’t been as good. So I’m still batting at a pretty nice percentage. And so if I wanted to dig deep into it I could completely change how I approach tournaments, but I don’t think that would be very wise.”
Scheffler begins his opening round at 10:20 a.m. ET on Thursday alongside Russell Henley, meaning we are less than 24 hours away from finding out if Scheffler is about to ditch the trend he’s really not worried about in the first place.
Nigeria’s dream of playing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup has come to an end after FIFA confirmed the final teams for the inter-confederation play-off tournament.
In a statement released on Wednesday, FIFA named DR Congo as Africa’s representative in the six-nation competition. The decision means there is no place for Nigeria in the tournament.
The Nigeria Football Federation had earlier submitted a formal protest. The federation claimed that DR Congo used ineligible players during their CAF play-off match in November 2025. That game ended 1-1 before Nigeria lost on penalties.
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Nigeria’s appeal asked FIFA to overturn the result and award them a spot in the inter-continental play-offs. However, FIFA’s latest update has now settled the matter.
According to FIFA, six countries will compete for the final two tickets to the World Cup, which will be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States across 16 cities.
The qualified teams are Bolivia, DR Congo, Iraq, Jamaica, New Caledonia and Suriname. The play-off matches will begin on 26 March.
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With DR Congo officially confirmed, Nigeria’s protest has failed, ending their hopes of reaching the 2026 World Cup.
NEW DELHI: The defending champions India take on England at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday in the second semi-final of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The winner of the contest will then face New Zealand in the summit clash in Ahmedabad on Sunday, after the Kiwis defeated South Africa by nine wickets in the first semi-final in Kolkata on Wednesday.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!While the weather forecast currently looks clear, fans remain cautious after two earlier matches in the tournament were washed out due to rain, raising concerns about what could happen if the weather disrupts the knockout match.
Why India vs England semi-final match will be a nightmare for bowlers | T20 World Cup 2026
To prevent chaos in the crucial stage, the International Cricket Council has scheduled a reserve day for both semi-finals. If rain or bad weather stops play on the scheduled day, the match will either continue or restart on the following day, ensuring that every effort is made to produce a result.There is also additional time built into the playing schedule. The semi-finals have up to 90 minutes of extra time on the main day, while the reserve day allows up to 120 minutes of extra play if required. For the final, both the main day and the reserve day have 120 minutes of additional time available to complete the match.
Mumbai Weather Forecast at Match Time Today
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For a valid result to be declared, each team must bat at least 10 overs. If rain prevents that from happening on the main day, the match will resume on the reserve day from the exact point where it stopped rather than starting from scratch.However, if the game still cannot be completed even after the reserve day, the rules favour the team that finished higher in the Super 8 stage. This scenario could prove tricky for India. India finished second in their Super 8 group, while England topped theirs with three wins.That means if the India versus England semi-final is completely washed out, England would advance to the final. The tournament final is scheduled for March 8 in Ahmedabad, with March 9 kept as the reserve day.
;)
