ICC Women's World Cup 2025: What happens if the final is washed out? Explained

The start for the much anticipated 2025 ICC Women's ODI World Cup Final between India and South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai was delayed by rain on Sunday.

While the match was first delayed only by 30 minutes, incessant rain mean that the match has now been delayed indefinitely.

So, what happens if the 2025 ICC Women's ODI World Cup Final is washed out?

Well, there are a few other scenarios to be kept in mind before a complete washout.

To accommodate for the situation, the 2025 ICC Women's ODI World Cup Final has a two-hour grace before we start losing overs. This means that the match, which was slated to start at 3pm IST can also start at 5pm IST and still a complete 50-over match can be played without losing any overs.

The 2025 ICC Women's ODI World Cup Final has a reserve day slated for Monday. So, if no play is possible on Sunday, the match will be conducted the next day.

The playing conditions for the tournament state, "If the reserve day is allocated, every effort will be made to complete the match on the scheduled day, with any necessary reduction in overs taking place, and only if the minimum number of overs necessary to constitute a match cannot be bowled on the scheduled day will the match be completed on the reserve day."

This means that if both teams can play an innings of 20 overs each on Sunday, the winner of this contest will be crowned champions via the Duckworth-Lewis method (DLS). In such a situation, the reserve day won't come into the picture. The cut-off for a 20-over match on Sunday is 9:08pm IST. 

"If the match has started on the scheduled day and overs are subsequently reduced following an interruption, but no further play is possible, the match will resume on the reserve day at the point where the last ball was played," the rules further state.

What if the match is washed out?

If the match is washed out completely i.e. if no play is possible on both Sunday and Monday, India and South Africa will share the 2025 ICC Women's ODI World Cup trophy.

"If the match is abandoned or a no result at the end of the reserve day, the teams shall be declared joint winners," the playing conditions read.