First IND vs SA T20I match abandoned after rain delays toss

The first Twenty20 International between India and South Africa was called off on Sunday owing to rain in Durban’s Kingsmead. The rain was so intense that even the coin toss was postponed for the game. The two sides will meet again on Tuesday at St George’s Park in Gqeberha for the second T20I. In this bilateral series, the visitors will attempt to test different combinations in preparation for the 2024 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States.

This will be their only series, along with a three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in January, before heading to the T20 World Cup. They will have six matches to prepare for the spectacle. The cancellation was especially distressing for Kingsmead, which has no other international fixtures this summer and is commemorating its centennial this year. This was also to be experienced groundsman Wilson Ngobese’s final international appearance before retiring at the conclusion of the season.

Suryakumar, India’s stand-in captain, indicated as much. “I feel there are limited T20s going forward, before the T20 World Cup. But then we play 14 league games in the IPL as well,” Suryakumar had explained during his pre-match media meet on Saturday.

First-time visitors to the ‘Rainbow Nation,’ such as Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, and others, would have been keen to experience the ‘Rainbow Nation’s’ particular flavour of cricket, but they will have to wait until Tuesday for the second match at St George’s Park in Gqeberha. Suryakumar has done an excellent job as a captain while filling in for the injured Hardik Pandya during the home T20I series against Australia. Suryakumar was the driving force behind India’s 4-1 series triumph.

The series’ second and third matches are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, at Gqeberha and Johannesburg, with rain expected at St. George’s Park on Tuesday afternoon and gloomy skies over the Wanderers throughout the week.