Second ODI between West Indies and Australia postponed after COVID-19 case

The second ODI between West Indies and Australia at the Kensington Oval in Barbados had to be postponed after a positive COVID-19 case emerged. A non-playing member of the Caribbean unit contracted the ungodly coronavirus. As per the protocols, the players and support staff from both teams have gone into isolation.

The development took place after the toss happened and the teams named their playing elevens. After the delay in start, Samuel Badree in commentary said that “it’s delayed due to an operational issue”. Later, the decision to reschedule the game was taken following the emergence of the COVID-19 case in the hosts’ camp.

West Indies-Australia game to be played later

“The second ODI between West Indies and Australia has been postponed due to a positive Covid-19 test result from a non-playing member of the West Indies team,” Cricket West Indies was quoted as saying in a statement, Cricbuzz reported.

“This decision was taken after the toss at Kensington Oval once the result was known due to the Covid-19 protocols. All members of both teams and match officials will be retested today.

“A decision on when the match will be replayed will be made at a later date once the test results are known. They will remain in isolation in their hotel rooms until their PCR-Test results are returned,” the report added.

Ian Bishop, the former West Indies cricketer and currently a renowned commentator, called the incident ‘unfortunate’.

Bishop took to Twitter and wrote, “Unfortunate. It’s the risk taken in these testing times. Hope the person is not to. Adversely affected.”

The third and final ODI is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 24 and whether or not the authorities go ahead with the game remains to be seen. The Aussies, in the meantime, are next scheduled to play a full-fledged bilateral series in Bangladesh.

They are set to arrive in Dhaka on July 29 to play five T20Is, starting August 3. Amidst the case in the Caribbean, it’s not known if the players would go on as per schedule.

As far as the ongoing series is concerned, Australia won the opening game by 133 runs- DLS Method. For the second ODI, Riley Meredith had replaced Wes Agar, but he will have to wait for his ODI debut.