T20 World Cup 2026: Gaffaney, Palekar To Officiate India’s Semifinal

Mumbai: Chris Gaffaney of New Zealand and South African Allahuddien Paleker will be the on-field umpires for India’s semifinal against England to be played at the Wankhede Stadium here on Thursday.

South Africa’s Adrian Holdstock has been named the third umpire while Paul Reiffel of Australia will be the fourth official with Zimbabwean Andy Pycroft being the match referee, the ICC announced on Tuesday.

India and England met at the 2024 T20 World Cup semifinals, a match India won by 68 runs, with Gaffaney also in place for that one. In this competition so far, he has been in the middle for India’s matches against South Africa and the West Indies.

Paleker has taken control of two England matches, against the West Indies and Scotland, as well as India’s victory over the Netherlands.

Richard Illingworth and Alex Wharf will be the on-field umpires for the first semifinal between South Africa and New Zealand in Kolkata on Wednesday. The pair will be joined by Nitin Menon as third umpire, with Rod Tucker in place as fourth umpire and Javagal Srinath appointed as match referee.

Illingworth was in the middle for South Africa’s victory at this stage two years ago, when the Proteas dismissed Afghanistan for 56 and won by nine wickets, while Wharf oversaw New Zealand’s win over the same opposition in the group stage this time around.

Semifinal-1 (South Africa vs New Zealand): Richard Illingworth & Alex Wharf (on-field), Nitin Menon (third umpire), Rod Tucker (fourth umpire). Match Referee: Javagal Srinath.

Semifinal-2 (India vs England): Chris Gaffaney & Allahuddien Paleker (on-field), Adrian Holdstock (third umpire), Paul Reiffel (fourth umpire). Match Referee: Andy Pycroft.