The South Africa-Zimbabwe 2022 T20 World Cup clash was shrouded in controversy after the match was held in conditions described as “farcical”, with Zimbabwe’s Richard Ngarava leaving the field injured and the match abandoned with the Proteas 13 short of victory.

The rain came down to hurt South Africa’s World Cup chances once again as the Super 12 match against Zimbabwe was abandoned due to persistent showers after 12 overs had been bowled across both innings. Needing 64 in seven overs, South Africa were 51-0 in three overs before the rain came down and abandoned the match.

The game, scheduled to begin at 7 pm local time, was delayed by 30 minutes after the encounter between Bangladesh and Netherlands, also held at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, was extended over time due to the weather. Just as South Africa and Zimbabwe were gearing up for their clash and wrapped up the anthems, rain caused a two-hour delay, reducing the match to nine overs per side. The rain stayed away in the first half as Zimbabwe ended their innings on 79-5.

Just eight balls after South Africa’s run-chase had begun, the rain pelted down once again. Although it was a short delay, the target was reduced to 64 off seven overs for South Africa, with DLS coming into play. The first over after the rain break was a catastrophe for Ngarava, who slipped down on the ground, and walked away clutching his left thigh, as the conditions were questioned.

The match was eventually called off after three overs, with South Africa needing 13 more runs. For a result in a curtailed game, Zimbabwe had to bowl at least five overs in the innings, which is the minimum number of overs needed to constitute a T20I match. What made it bizarre was that South Africa had surpassed what would have been the revised target after five overs – 46 – but the match was abandoned as the minimum number of overs that were needed for a full game were at least five per innings. However, South Africa would have won if they chased down 64 in less than five overs, and had the rain relented for a five-over game to be possible, the Proteas would not have needed to face another ball to be declared winners.

Some wondered why the match was held in the first place and ended in an injury to Zimbabwe’s key bowler. During the innings break, Lungi Ngidi admitted that the conditions were far from ideal. “It’s very wet and you could see most of the boys sliding around, hard to get your hands on the ball and it is pretty wet out there. There’s a bit of bounce and it’s skidding through actually now, so should be pretty decent to bat on. We tried to go wobble seam and cross seam to get the best grip on the ball, you could feel a few slip out, also in the landing area it was starting to get a bit muddy. So, you just try to work out with what you got out there.”

South Africa women’s cricketer Marizanne Kapp criticised what she perceived as Zimbabwe’s time-wasting tactics, which prevented two more overs from being bowled, with Albie Morkel commenting that “any other team would have wasted time as well”.

Bet365 will be Live Streaming all of the T20 World Cup matches direct to your iPhone, iPad or Android device, as well as desktop. This means that every T20 World Cup fixture will be available to bet365 customers wherever they are in the world.

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