Australia vs South Africa ODI called off due to rain
Dec 31, 2018 at 2:04 PM
The seventh match of this ongoing one-day international tri-series involving Australia, West Indies, and South Africa lasted only one over as heavy afternoon rain leaked onto the pitch at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
The important match between Australia and South Africa started as per schedule at 1pm local time, with Mitchell Starc giving 8 runs from his first over after Steve Smith winning the toss sent the South Africans to bat first, before the rain started and the players were forced to leave the field.
The heavy downpour continued for several hours until it stopped and the ground started to remove the blue covers protecting entire center pitch.
But it was shocking to see after the removal of the main covers that the hessian beneath didn’t actually cover the entire wicket, leaving almost half of the playing surface submerged in water.
Umpires clearly saw the outline of a wet patch running along the centre of the pitch, ground staff quickly started to use pieces of foam and even a heavy duty blow dryer came into the act to dry out the surface as quickly as possible.
But their efforts were not enough and after another brief period of a light shower, the match was officially called off at 6.30pm local time.
“It’s frustrating,” Australia’s interim coach Justin Langer admitted after the match was called off.
“Particularly in Barbados – whoever imagine you’d be in Barbados and you’d get a game washed out?
“In a tournament like this, it’s frustrating. It’s always frustrating when it rains. Cricket and rain just don’t go together.”
Both teams were later given two points for the washout, and South Africa moved to 12 points, while Australia on 11 that left West Indies on eight.
It now means,s either a victory or another no result for Australia in their next game with Windies on Wednesday morning would ultimately confirm their place in the series decider on 27th June whereas a defeat would send them home.
The Proteas and Windies will face each other in the final preliminary fixture on Saturday morning.
Frankly speaking, Australia have lost a lot of experience since the World Cup last year. Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson and Michael Clarke were genuine superstars of the game and now the Aussies don’t have the luxury to call on them anymore. So you’re left with a team that’s quite inexperienced internationally.
Australia coach Justin Langer is now anxiously waiting to see how his young squad would handle the pressure of do or die cricket as the ODI tri-series has reached its crescendo this week. In a team that has been shorn of five of the experienced veterans who led them to World Cup glory last year, Langer believes it’s a great opportunity to see this team, which has an average age of less than 27, can ultimately handle the heat.