Image Credit- Getty
Without even the toss occurring in Durban, the first
Twenty20 International (TT20I) between South Africa and India was cancelled.
This was one of just six T20I matches for each team before the T20 World Cup
the following year. A capacity crowd was denied any action due to a persistent
drizzle that persisted throughout the day. The event was called off at 4 p.m.
local time, one hour and fifty-four minutes after it was scheduled to begin.
For Kingsmead, which is commemorating its centenary
this year and has no further international matches this summer, the deluge was
especially upsetting. Wilson Ngobese, a seasoned groundskeeper who will retire
at the conclusion of the season, was also scheduled to make his final
appearance for his country. Domestic matches will still go place at Kingsmead,
including a SA20 game early in 2019 and a first-class match between the
Dolphins and Lions that begins on Thursday.
Some of the teams’ efforts to provide players with
game time in a constrained international calendar will be derailed by their
failure to secure any game time. Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen will now only
be available for the second game before being released to prepare for the
Tests. In the third game, South Africa will field a backup pace attack. Their
only other matchup before to the T20 World Cup is against the West Indies right
before the competition, where they will play with their World Cup team. India
will still have time to adjust their lineups for their three January matches
against Afghanistan.
The second and third matches in the series take place
on Tuesday and Thursday in Gqeberha and Johannesburg respectively, with rain
forecast at St. George’s Park on Tuesday afternoon and cloudy skies over the
Wanderers through the week.