The knockout stage of the 2023 Cricket World Cup consisted of two semi-finals, played at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 15 November and Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 16 November, and a final, at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on 19 November. The ICC stated that if Pakistan had qualified for the semi-finals, they would have played at Eden Gardens. As India qualified for the semi-finals and Pakistan did not, they played at Wankhede Stadium. All knockout matches had a reserve day.[1]
The host India was the first team to qualify for the semi-finals after their mammoth 302-run win against Sri Lanka, their seventh successive win in the World Cup.[2]
South Africa became the second team to qualify for the semi-finals after Pakistan defeated New Zealand on 4 November; however, with that win, Pakistan kept their hope of the knockout stage alive.[3]
India secured the top place amongst the semi-finalists after they beat South Africa by 243 runs on 5 November at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, accumulating 16 points in 8 matches, as no other team would be able to gather as many points as India in their remaining matches.[4]
Australia became the third team to qualify for the semi-finals after defeating Afghanistan on 7 November, sharing equal points with South Africa, and the two sides played against each other in the semi-finals.[5]
On 11 November at Eden Gardens, England batted first, and scored 337/9 in 50 overs. For Pakistan to qualify for the semi-finals, they had to chase the total in 6.4 overs to surpass New Zealand in net run rate, as the teams had the same number of points. However, after the end of the first innings, New Zealand qualified for the semi-finals as the target was technically never possible to be chased down in 6.4 overs. Hence, New Zealand confirmed their berth in the semi-finals as the fourth team and faced India in the semi-final as they had done in the previous World Cup in 2019.[6]
The match officials for the semi-finals were announced on 13 November 2023.[7]
See main article: 2023 Cricket World Cup final.