Rain forces South Africa, Windies to split points

Incessant drizzle forced the World Cup tie between South Africa and West Indies to be called off at the Rose Bowl here on Monday after only few overs could be bowled, as both teams shared the spoils.

Andre Russell-less West Indies put the Proteas in to bat after winning the toss with skipper Jason Holder hoping to make use of the overcast conditions.

Desperate for a win after three successive defeats, Faf Du Plessis led South Africa were off to a jittery start, losing out-of-form Hashim Amla (6) and Aiden Markram (5) early to totter at 29/2 in 7.3 overs.

Windies pacer Sheldon Cottrell bagged both the wickets in a wonderful four-over spell in which he leaked 18 runs. Oshane Thomas had just started his first over when the skies opened up, and after several inspections, the umpires had to rule out any chance of further play being possible.

Under the cosh, South Africa can now score a maximum of 11 points in this tournament, while the West Indies, who lost to Australia last week after a good opening win against Pakistan, have a better chance of bouncing back.

"These are the worst. Both teams wanted to play and get results but you can't control the weather," Du Plessis said.

"For us it was important to not lose wickets. It's like Test cricket. But they did well to get two wickets. (Shortage) favours the team that bats second. But even saying that, if you get 30-35 overs, you can defend on a big ground. Lungi (Ngidi) will be ready for the next match. We didn't play our best cricket so far. We've got to beat Afghanistan (in the next game)," the 34-year old added.

Holder said their bowlers got a good start but could not cash in thanks to the inclement weather.

"Yeah, really good start again by the bowlers. It's unfortunate the weather came in our way. So far we've been getting new ball wickets. It's just a matter for our bowlers to hit the straps and continue doing what we're doing. We don't mind giving away runs. We're hoping Russell pulls up before the next game," Holder said.

The Windies were without the injured pair of Russell and Evin Lewis.

--IANS

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