Kolkata T20I abandoned due to wet outfield

Kolkata T20I abandoned due to wet outfield: The final T20I between India and South Africa has been called off without a ball having been bowled. Persistent rains initially delayed the start of the match; however despite the weather improving and with no further rain play was still not possible due to unfit ground conditions. What promised to be a cracking T20I ended in a pretty tame manner. With this the South Africans have won the series 2-0 and the Indians have been left with much to ponder ahead of the ODI series which starts on the coming Sunday at Kanpur.

JP Duminy was declared the Man of the Series for his consistent batting in the first 2 matches. “Very happy. Unfortunately we didn’t get a game today. Would have been nice to have gotten another game under the belt. If someone had to give us 2-0, we would have taken it. Its always a tough series to play in India against India. Going to be a good five-match ODI series, Very exciting and we are definitely looking forward to it” he said at the conclusion of the T20I series.

MS Dhoni walked in with the crowd giving him a huge roar, he said, “We wanted to make a few changes in the side. Wanted to change the batting order. It’s sad that we were not able to play. This is one venue where you really want to play. Don’t want to come here and then not play a game. Three changes, we were planning to make: Jinks was supposed to open, Raina to bat at No. 3 and Mishra would’ve played. Binny would’ve played too,”

He continued: “See what really would have been best for us. Played here a lot, for the outfield to change a lot, I knew it wouldn’t change. There was no sun. The rain was a lot too, even if it was only an hour. The ODIs will be good, again a lot will depend on the kind of venues and the toss as well. Kanpur being one of them. Dew is always a factor, once you play after Septemper. We would like to play the surface that is provided to us. But at the same time, we want to make the most of the home series. Don’t want a lot of grass cover, difficult for the spinners with dew as well. ” he said.

South African skipper Faf du Plessis holding the heavy T20I series trophy said, “Disappointing, the rain played a huge role today. The players safety is quite important on such a long tour. I think its really important to acknowledge how hard it is to come to India and win a series. We will take a lot of confidence going into the ODIs. Saying that India will be fresh, they would want to set the recor straight. We need to be wary. We are very fortunate to have great leaders in our team. Myself, Hashim and AB work really well together. We rely heavily on each other. JP did really well. Kagiso was fantastic as well, especially in the second game. The standout for me were the four seamers. I think in the first game, they got off to a great start, we pulled it back and then JP took over. But in the second game, to bowl India out for 90-odd, that doesn’t happen a lot.”