Reserve Day in Cricket: ICC Tournament Rules Explained
A reserve day is an additional day set aside in ICC knockout matches to allow a match to be completed if weather interrupts play. Here is how it works and when it applies.
A reserve day is an extra day scheduled immediately after a knockout match in an ICC tournament, held in case rain or bad light prevents the match from being completed on its original day. Reserve days are used in semi-finals and finals of ICC events — the most high-profile matches where a no-result is unacceptable. If the original match day is completely washed out, the reserve day acts as a fresh start, subject to DLS (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern) minimum over requirements.
How does the reserve day work?
If play is delayed or interrupted on the main match day, the teams attempt to complete the minimum overs required for a result under DLS (5 overs per side in T20; 20 overs per side in ODIs). If this cannot be achieved on the main day, the match resumes on the reserve day from exactly where it left off — the same score, the same wickets, the same over count. If the main day had zero overs bowled, the reserve day is treated as a full match day.
Group stage vs knockouts
Reserve days are typically not used for group stage matches. A rained-off group match results in the points being shared (each team gets one point). Only knockout matches — quarter-finals (if applicable), semi-finals, and finals — receive a reserve day because sharing points is not possible in an elimination format.
Famous reserve day matches
The 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand famously spilled into its reserve day after the original day was completely washed out at Old Trafford. New Zealand eventually won a tense low-scoring match on the reserve day — one of the most memorable uses of the rule in tournament history.