South Africa get first point after match against WI gets called off

Sheldon Cottrell celebrates taking a wicket

A struggling South Africa got their first point of the World Cup after their game against the West Indies was abandoned due to persistent rain here on Monday.

South Africa were 29 for two in the eighth over when rain stopped play at the Hampshire Bowl and intermittent showers meant no play was possible for the rest of the game.

Both teams shared a point each for the called-off game, giving South Africa their first point of the tournament after three back-to-back losses against England, Bangladesh, and India.

The West Indies, who beat Pakistan before losing to Australia, have three points from as many games.

The West Indies, who opted to bowl in overcast conditions, were on top before the rain arrived as pacer Sheldon Cottrell removed Hashim Amla (6) and Aiden Markram (5) after the West Indies opted to bowl.

Quinton de Kock and captain Faf du Plessis were batting on 17 and 0 when rain lashed the ground. "Rain-affected matches are the worst. Both teams wanted a result, but you can't control the weather. You want to start on a day like today without losing wickets - but they have a lot of strike bowlers up front, and they managed to get two wickets," said du Plessis at the post-match interaction.

"It mostly suits a game batting second in a rain-affected match. But even then, in a 30-35 over the game, you can defend, but we didn't get anything get a game today."

South Africa, who have been hit by injuries to their pacers, finally have something to cheer about with Lungi Ngidi set to make a comeback in their next game against Afghanistan on June 15.

"Lungi will be ready for the next match which is important for us - we are looking for a bowling attack that is as strong as possible. We have Afghanistan next, so we need to put in a solid performance and get some momentum there," said du Plessis.
The West Indies had the upper hand before the rain arrived.

"We were in a good position today, but we can't control the weather. I guess we were hoping we would get a full day today, but nothing we can do about this so we have to move on and play well in the future matches," said captain Jason Holder.

South Africa has had their worst ever start to a World Cup and are languishing at the far end of the table. The star-studded team, under the leadership of Faf du Plessis, will have to do extraordinarily well in the remaining matches, if they want to qualify for the semi-finals.

With inputs from PTI

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