Washout could leave SA hopes down the drain

Southampton, June 10 

South Africa’s hopes of a semifinal place at the World Cup appear to have been washed out along with their fixture against the West Indies at the Rose Bowl here today. The ‘no result’ has given them a first point of the competition from four matches, but they likely needed double that in order to compete for the knockout phase. West Indies now have three points from three games. With more bad weather predicted for this week across England and Wales, this might not be the only game lost though.

After being sent in to bat under heavy skies, South Africa laboured to 29/2 from 7.3 overs before persistent rain throughout the day ensured there would be no more play.

It is more bad luck for the South Africans, who have endured injuries to key bowlers Dale Steyn and Lungi Ngidi, and lost their opening three matches to England, Bangladesh and India.

“These are the worst,” South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said. “Both teams wanted to play and get results but you can’t control the weather.” 

He added they will be bolstered by the return of seamer Ngidi in their next fixture against Afghanistan on Saturday. “Lungi will be ready for the next match and it will be good to have him back,” du Plessis said. — Reuters

Scoreboard 

Match #15, June 10: SA vs W Indies

Toss: WI (Field)

Match abandoned due to rain

South Africa

Runs Balls 4 6

Q de Kock not out 17 21 1 0

H Amla c Gayle b Cottrell 6 7 1 0

A Markram c Hope b Cottrell 5 10 1 0

F du Plessis not out 0 7 0 0

Extras: (w 1) 1

Total: (For 2 wickets, in 7.3 overs) 29

FOW: 1-11, 2-28

Bowling O M R W

Sheldon Cottrell 4 1 18 2

Kemar Roach 3 0 10 0

Oshane Thomas 0.3 0 1 0