South Africa has 'no regrets' about Zimbabwe washout - Cricket Winner

South Africa has “no regrets,” after their washout against Zimbabwe in Hobart saw them drop a point in the T20 World Cup. Believe they are “still in control” of their destiny in the tournament. “We haven’t had a good history with rain,” the outgoing coach Mark Boucher said, bringing to mind how South Africa lost in a rain-affected semi-final in the 1992 World Cup, misread a DLS sheet. Exited the first round of 2003 World Cup. Lost in another reduced match in the 2015 fifty-over World Cup final four. “But we’d rather have it in the first game, now where we are still in control of what we can actually do.”

South Africa did everything it could to beat the weather. Chasing a revised target of 64, they hurtled to 51 for 0 in just three overs. And from that standpoint, Boucher did admit they were “frustrated,” to get “so close,” only to see it “get taken away”. “You walk away from this game thinking we were hard done by. Whether the game should have taken place or not,” he said. That’s where some may disagree. Zimbabwe’s coach Dave Houghton was critical of the officials’ decision. To keep the players on the field on a night dominated by bad weather and a wet outfield.

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Losing is a part of the game, and it was just 1st match

But Boucher only went as far as calling conditions “tough,” and indicated there was a willingness on all sides to get the match underway. “We are here to play a World Cup and obviously we wanted to play. It seemed like both captains wanted to play from the start,” he said. South Africa vs Zimbabwe was delayed by a rain interruption in the earlier game between Bangladesh and Netherlands. Took place 30 minutes after it was originally scheduled.

Play would have started 15 minutes from then but persistent drizzle forced a two-and-a-half hour delay and reduced the contest to nine overs a side. Zimbabwe’s innings were uninterrupted, despite some spitting that turned into a light shower, and they set South Africa a target of 80. Each team has to play a minimum of five overs for it to constitute a T20 game. This one ended 12 balls short of that cut-off. At that point, South Africa was 51 for 0 – well past the five-over DLS. Par score for the loss of no wickets (44).