The Proteas were well on their way to a commanding short and sweet victory over Zimbabwe in their T20 World Cup opener in Hobart today, before rain had the final say on proceedings.
South Africa needed just 13 runs off 24 balls to win – after opener Quinton de Kock in particular had smashed 47 runs off just 18 deliveries – before the heavens opened on the contest.
The match hung in the balance numerous times thanks to rain, and the ‘no result’ at the end was a tough pill to swallow for SA.
After a delayed start, the game was reduced to 9 overs each, which Zimbabwe batted out and only managed to score 79/5. During SA’s innings, rain had stopped play to reduce their innings to 7 overs and their target to 64.
Having made it to 51-0 after only 3 overs, the Proteas heavily fancied their chances, and rightly so. However, according to ICC regulations each team needed to bat a minimum 5 overs each to record a ‘contest’ and for the D/L method to come into play, but SA was just 2 overs shy of that.
Much controversy was being stirred following the game because the Proteas were on their way to a certain victory for full points and to bag a handsome NRR, but instead they had to share the points with a zero NRR gain.
That meant De Kock’s fine efforts were almost in vain, and that the Proteas are now forced to draw something special out of their hats for the rest of their Super 12 group stage.
Head coach Mark Boucher acknowledged that both teams “wanted to play” before the game, despite the threat of rain. Fortune never favoured SA in that regard, though, which was completely out of the players’ control.
“We were in a very good position. If you walk away from this game you’ll be thinking we were hard done by,” Boucher said. “If Zimbabwe were in our position they would’ve wanted to carry on playing.
“We’re not there to make the calls – that’s what officials do. We’ve got to live with their decisions.”
Aside from the Proteas’ infamous chokers tag at World Cups, rain had also disrupted their chances of accumulating vital victories in the past. And, to their once more bad luck, it happened again this time.
“The positive is that it wasn’t a do or die game for us,” Boucher said of his team’s mentality ahead of the rest of their campaign. “We’re still in control of what happens in this World Cup.
“Yes, we haven’t had a good history with rain, but rather it happens now in the first game where we’re still in control of what we can do.
“There’s probably going to be one game where we’re really going to have to win, but we’ll see; it’s still very early in the tournament,” he said, adding that he was pleased with his team’sintensity in this game, which also included some tight bowling.
Some antics came under scrutiny after SA was averted from hitting the winning runs. Time-wasting from the Zimbabwean players – such as sliding, falling, nursing injuries, bowling no-balls and wides, having their bats replaced after batting for just a couple of overs and having prolonged conversations – all came into question.
The officials standing around for a few minutes to await SA’s revised innings after play resumed also came into the spotlight. After all, SA needed just several more minutes to clean up their target, so those misses ended up all as good as miles from the outcome of the game.
“We got so close, but then it gets taken away from you. That was probably the most frustrating part,” Boucher added.
The Proteas will most likely have to win their remaining games to progress to the semis, especially since their closest rivals, India and Pakistan, will fancy bagging comprehensive wins against Zimbabwe. Their next encounter is against Bangladesh in Sydney on Thursday.
