| 0.0 : Welcome to the coverage of match 15 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. An injury stuck and depleted South Africa take on West Indies. It's a very crucial game for the Proteas who have their backs against the wall after losing all three of their opening matches. A loss here will dent their chances to qualify for the semi-final significantly. Faf du Plessis and his men will need to put in a better performance if they want to get their first win of the tournament. West Indies too enter this contest |
| PITCH REPORT - Ian Bishop and Shaun Pollock are the pitch reporters for the game. Bishop starts by mentioning about the weather and he says it is grey and overcast and informs rain is predicted later on in the day. Bishop later says it is a bigger ground and from the Northern End the boundary straight down the ground are big as it is 82 m and from the Pavillion End it is 84 m straight. Pollock from the other end says that in the last game South Africa players had a bit of assistance from the sur |
| TOSS - South Africa skipper, Faf du Plessis has the coin in hand. Up it goes, West Indies skipper, Jason Holder calls Heads and it comes down in his favour. WEST INDIES OPT TO BOWL FIRST. |
| West Indies skipper, Jason Holder says they want to field first due to the overhead condition. Says they have to move on from the last game and try to once again get into a winning position. Holder informs they have two forced changes as Lewis and Rusell are injured so they are replaced by Darren Bravo and Kemar Roach. |
| South African skipper, Faf du Plessis says they were looking to bowl first due to the overcast conditions. On the bad start to the tournament, Faf says they played two tough teams, in India and England and losing to Bangladesh was a big blow and informs they are not focusing on the negatives. On the team changes, du Plessis informs Markram and Beuran Hendricks come into the playing XI today. On what he thinks of the pitch, du Plessis says he has spoken to the locals and they have said it is a ve |
| West Indies Playing XI - Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo (IN FOR EVIN LEWIS), Shai Hope (WK), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder (C), Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Kemar Roach (IN FOR ANDRE RUSSELL). |
| South Africa Playing XI - Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (WK), Faf du Plessis (C), Aiden Markram (IN FOR JP DUMINY) , Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Beuran Hendricks (IN FOR TABRAIZ SHAMSI). |
| Both sets of players walk out to the middle for their respective National Anthems. First up it will be West Indies who are the visiting team for this game. Followed by South Africa's who are the home team for this contest. We are not far away from the start of this game. |
| Done and dusted with the national anthems. The West Indies players are in a huddle with their skipper, Jason Holder having a few words before they take their respective positions in the field. Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla walk out to open the innings for South Africa. Sheldon Cottrell to start the proceedings with the first new ball. |
| 0.1 : S Cottrell to de Kock, Cottrell starts with a good length ball outside off, de Kock leaves it alone. Not much movement on the first ball for Sheldon. |
| 0.2 : S Cottrell to de Kock, Good length ball outside off, de Kock cuts it hard but straight to the man at point. |
| 0.3 : S Cottrell to de Kock, Play and a miss. Length ball outside off, de Kock looks to cut it again but this time misses. |
| 0.4 : S Cottrell to de Kock, Full for the first time from Cottrell, de Kock pushes it to mid on. |
| 0.5 : S Cottrell to de Kock, First runs off the day. Back of a length ball on middle, de Kock tucks it towards square leg and gets a single. |
| 0.6 : S Cottrell to H Amla, Amla is off the mark too. He gets a good length ball on off, Amla drives it through covers and gets a couple. Tidy start from Cottrell. |
| Kemar Roach to bowl from the other end with the second new ball. |
| South Africa have taken the referral. It is for a caught behind. De Kock is the man in question. After a long pause he has been adjudged OUT. De Kock takes it upstairs straight away. |
| 1.1 : K Roach to de Kock, NOT OUT! Peach of a ball from Roach. Good length ball on off, Roach hits the deck hard and it moves away after pitching. De Kock looks to play it inside the line but misses. The ball clips something and goes to the left of Hope, behind the stumps. |
| 1.2 : K Roach to de Kock, Good length ball on off, de Kock pushes it to the man at cover. |
| 1.3 : K Roach to de Kock, On the pads, de Kock tucks it to mid-wicket and gets a single. |
| 1.4 : K Roach to H Amla, Good length ball on off, Amla taps it back to the bowler. |
| 1.5 : K Roach to H Amla, On the body, Amla looks to flick it but gets hit on the pads. |
| 1.6 : K Roach to H Amla, Dot to end the over. Just a run off Roach's first. Good, tight start for him too. |
| 2.1 : S Cottrell to de Kock, Full on off, de Kock plays it to covers. |
| 2.2 : S Cottrell to de Kock, Good shot but the outfield seems to be very slow today. Back of a length ball on middle and off, de Kock pulls it right off the middle through mid-wicket. Brathwaite gives it a chase and pulls it back before the ropes. The batsmen take three. That would have raced away to the fence in any other ground. |
| 2.3 : S Cottrell to H Amla, FOUR! This will go to the fence. Good length ball on off, Amla lashes onto it and slashes it through point for a boundary. First one off the day and it has come off the bat of Amla. Glorious one to have the first boundary off the day. |
| 2.4 : S Cottrell to H Amla, Fuller on off, Amla pushes it to the man at cover. |
| 2.5 : S Cottrell to H Amla, OUT! West Indies draw the first blood. Once again the West Indies pace bowler has got an early wicket. Cottrell hits the length hard around off, Amla looks to go hard at it with his cut. Sheldon though generates extra bounce off the surface and Amla ends up edging it to wide slip. The young Chris Gayle there takes a simple catch. Cottrell brigs out his trademark salute. The West Indies are up and running and once again Amla fails in this World Cup. |
| Aiden Markram walks out at number 3. |
| 2.6 : S Cottrell to A Markram, Short on the body, Markram flicks it to the man at mid-wicket off the higher half of the bat. End of an eventful over. 7 runs off it but more importantly a wicket. Holder will take that happily. |
| 3.1 : K Roach to de Kock, WIDE! Roach bowls it down the leg side, de Kock looks to flick but misses it. |
| K Roach to de Kock, On a length on off, de Kock looks to defend but gets an inside edge onto the pads. |
| 3.2 : K Roach to de Kock, Length delivery on leg, Quinton tucks it towards the leg side for a run. |
| 3.3 : K Roach to A Markram, Full on middle, Markram drives it to mid on. |
| 3.4 : K Roach to A Markram, Length delivery on off, Aiden plays it to covers. |
| 3.5 : K Roach to A Markram, On a length on middle, Markram nudges it to leg side. |
| 3.6 : K Roach to A Markram, FOUR! Gorgeous! Overpitched on off, It is in Markram's zone and he beautifully creams it through mid off for a boundary. This should get Markram going. |
| 4.1 : S Cottrell to de Kock, Short delivery, de Kock pulls it over mid-wicket. The batsmen pick up a couple. |
| 4.2 : S Cottrell to de Kock, Good ball. Back of a length ball right on the body. de Kock looks to defend it but it lobs off his glove but luckily for him it falls in no man's land on the side of the pitch. |
| 4.3 : S Cottrell to de Kock, Good shot but straight to the fielder. Full on off, de Kock drives it but it is straight to mid off. |
| 4.4 : S Cottrell to de Kock, Uppish but safe. Length ball outside off, de Kock slashes it wide of point. As there was rain earlier on the outfield is not as quick and Roach from third man runs to his left and saves it before the ropes. Two runs taken. |
| 4.5 : S Cottrell to de Kock, Good length ball on the pads, de Kock looks to flick but gets hit on the pads. |
| 4.6 : S Cottrell to de Kock, FOUR! Cut and cut hard! Back of a length ball outside off. Cottrell is guilty of giving him width to play with. De Kock says thank you very much and cuts it through cover-point for a boundary. The slow outfield cannot stop that from going to the fence. |
| 5.1 : K Roach to A Markram, Back of a length ball on off, Markram taps it to point. |
| 5.2 : K Roach to A Markram, Full on off and middle, Markram defends it with confidence. |
| 5.3 : K Roach to A Markram, Short now. It is a bouncer. Markram ducks under it. |
| 5.4 : K Roach to A Markram, On the pads, Aiden flicks it to the on side and gets a single. |
| 5.5 : K Roach to de Kock, Another good shot but once again no run. Full on off, de Kock drives it straight to the man at mid off. |
| 5.6 : K Roach to de Kock, Full again this time, de Kock hits it wide and past of mid off and gets a couple. |
| 6.1 : S Cottrell to A Markram, OUT! Second wicket for Cottrell. The pace bowlers of West Indies have been on a roll this World Cup and Cottrell is the vital cog of it. Once again Cottrell comes steaming in and hits the deck hard on the body. Markram looks to flick it but it goes off his glove. It goes to the left of the keeper. Hope behind dives on that side and takes a very good catch. the form that Hope is in, he won't drop much. |
| 0.0 : South Africa skipper, Faf du Plessis walks out to bat next. His team needs a special innings from here today. |
| 6.2 : S Cottrell to du Plessis, Bouncer to welcome the Protea skipper. Du Plessis ducks under it. |
| 6.3 : S Cottrell to du Plessis, Nice solid defense there. Good length ball on off, du Plessis defends it off the front foot. |
| 6.4 : S Cottrell to du Plessis, Almost a disaster there for South Africa. Back of a length ball on off, du Plessis taps it towards cover. Quinton de Kock was looking for a quick single and he comes out for it, du Plessis though is not keen and sends him back. Luckily for de Kock and South Africa the fielder misses his shy at the bowler's end. Had it been a direct hit, de Kock would have been back for an early shower. |
| 6.5 : S Cottrell to du Plessis, On the pads, du Plessis flicks it to mid-wicket. |
| 6.6 : S Cottrell to du Plessis, End of a superb Cottrell over. It is a wicket maiden. Good length ball on off, Faf blocks it to see off the over. |
| First bowling change. Oshane Thomas is into the attack now. |
| 7.1 : O Thomas to de Kock, Back of a length ball on off, de Kock runs it down to third man and gets a run. |
| 7.2 : O Thomas to du Plessis, Outside off on a length, du Plessis leaves it alone. |
| 7.3 : O Thomas to du Plessis, Short ball. It is outside off, du Plessis shoulders arms to it. |
| Oh, no! It has started drizzling and there is an assumption that a thunderstorm will come in soon so they have decided to get off the field. Let's hope that rain gods are kind on us today and we resume soon. |
| 12 NOON UPDATE (1100 GMT) - A progress from the previous update. The conditions were not that dark when the players left the field but now it has gone darker. There was only one hover cover when play was stopped, now there are plenty of covers. It was just a slight drizzle at that time, now it is raining heavily. Oh boy, the forecast of a thunderstorm seems to be proving right. |
| 1300 LOCAL UPDATE (1200 GMT) - There is no change in weather as it is still raining and Mark Nicholas on air says that it is still dark, grimy and wet. He also says that the weather forecast for the day is not very motivating. We are also informed that the last time to resume this game is 1700 Local. |
| 1400 LOCAL UPDATE (1300 GMT) - There is not much of a change in the update as it is still raining. It had stopped for a while and just when the groundsmen started mopping, it started raining again. It is drizzling as of now but there are big dark clouds which are making their way towards the ground which is a major concern. |
| 2.30 PM LOCAL UPDATE (1330 GMT) - The rain has stopped. Yay! The conditions have got a bit brighter, though we can still see some dark clouds hovering around. The ground staff has started its work and a couple of Super Soppers are doing the rounds. No word on an inspection yet. Guess it will take at least 30-40 minutes of this mopping before the inspection. |
| 1445 LOCAL UPDATE (1345 GMT) - Well...well...well. Just when we thought the rain had stopped and we were all set to resume as the covers were coming off, rain gods once again started pouring and the covers went back on the pitch. |
| 3.45 pm local time (1445 GMT) - Rain and South Africa seem to be enjoying their company. The stage was set, it had got brighter and the umpires were out for an inspection. But then, the heavens opened up and it started raining again. Don't think we are far away from an abandonment. |
| 4.15 PM LOCAL TIME (1515 GMT) - THE MATCH HAS BEEN ABANDONED. Nothing surprising, with the covers coming on and off. South Africa still stay winless in this tournament but at least they get on the board. Luck seems to be going away from them and they now need 5 wins in the next 5 games, along with some help from other teams. Their next match is against Afghanistan and they will hope that they win that one, if they get a completed match. |
| South African skipper, Faf du Plessis, says that it is frustrating. Both teams wanted to play and win but one cannot argue with nature. On the first hour, Faf says that the first hour is always challenging and it felt like the first hour of a Test match where the ball was moving around a lot. Agrees that shortened games usually suit the team batting second but given the dimensions of the ground, anything could have happened if this match had been played. Reckons that Lungi Ngidi should be fit fo |
| West Indies captain, Jason Holder, says that in these conditions, the new balls are the key and the bowlers did very well. Hopes that his bowlers continue to pick up wickets. Does not mind giving a few runs in search for runs. Hopes to have Andre Russell and others fit for their next clash against England. Given that they have another couple of matches at this venue, Holder says that it gives them time to analyze and adjust and accordingly prepare their plans. Is happy with West Indies' position |
| So the second game in this tournament gets abandoned. Match 16 sees Bangladesh take on Sri Lanka in Bristol and if the forecast is to be believed, it is not that great. Fingers crossed. Join us on Tuesday, June 11, 2019 for the game which is scheduled at 10.30 am local (0930 GMT). ADIOS! TAKE CARE! |
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