Twitter Reactions: Rain steals the thunder from Quinton de Kock's innings as South Africa settle with a point vs Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe got out of jail in their clash against South Africa at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart after rain forced a point to be shared between the African sides. Zimbabwe were restricted to a par total of 80 runs in their nine overs in a rain-curtailed affair, and with the Proteas just inches away from victory, the rain had the final say in the match.

South Africa were off to a rollicking start in the rain-curtailed affair thanks to Quinton de Kock's belligerent first over, which yielded 23 runs, the most in the first over of a T20 World Cup match ever. The southpaw's hurriedness was induced by the rain lurking around at the venue.

And the rain did arrive during the second over of the Protean innings, resulting in the innings being shortened to just seven overs with the revised target of 64 runs. South Africa's explosive southpaw continued on his merry way after the brief halt.

But just as when South Africa looked like running away with the game after scoring 51 runs in the first three overs, rain interrupted again, with the Proteas needing just 13 runs in the final 12 deliveries. The Zimbabwe skipper was pleading with the umpires to call a halt to the proceedings as the slippery conditions in the outfield was threatening injuries to his players.

Ervine's plea was heard by the umpires in the middle as the rain started pelting and the game was called off with the sides sharing a point each. Quinton de Kock's 47 off 18 deliveries went in vain as the rain was once again the pantomime villain for the South Africans in a World Cup clash.

Wesley Madhevere's cameo in the first innings kept Zimbabwe in the game

Earlier in the match, Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first before the game was interrupted for a couple of hours due to nagging rain in Hobart. The match eventually resumed, with each side allocated nine overs to make up for the lost time.

With the powerplay reduced to just three overs, the message was clear for Craig Ervine's side. But the South African pacers were relentless during the field restrictions as Zimbabwe struggled to clear the boundaries in the initial overs. The Protean pacers were assisted by some terrific efforts in the field as Quinton de Kock grabbed a stunner before David Miller's direct hit drew curtains on Sean Williams's innings.

With the scoreboard reading a grim 19/4 after 3.4 overs, things were looking bleak for Craig Ervine's side. That is when the 22-year-old Wesley Madhevere compiled a counterattacking innings of 35 runs in just 18 deliveries to take Zimbabwe to a competitive score of 80 runs in their allocated nine overs.

Here is how Twitter reacted to South Africa's misfortune against Zimbabwe:

In the 3rd over itself, South Africa was well past what the DLS score was supposed to be at the 5th over mark. But it has to be a minimum 5 over game. Quirks of our wonderful game. #T20WorldCup

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 24, 2022

Rain 🤝 South Africa at World Cups#BBCCricket #T20WorldCup #SAvZIM pic.twitter.com/tKNwnX5blb

— Test Match Special (@bbctms) October 24, 2022

🚨 NO RESULT

The stop-start nature of the game comes to an end as rain has the final say, despite our best efforts to chase down the target.#ZIMvSA #T20WorldCup #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/8JbCj342f0

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 24, 2022

Rain- Worldcups- South Africa. Enough said! #T20WorldCup2022

— Abhinav Mukund (@mukundabhinav) October 24, 2022

Skidding/ sliding.😔 #SAvZIM

— Shikha Pandey (@shikhashauny) October 24, 2022

We must have a Bonus Point in the #T20WorldCup
No team can afford a rained out game…Bonus point, at least, allows you a serious chance of making up for a lost point.

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 24, 2022

Teams should be allowed to change their XI if overs are reduced post toss . #ZIMvsSA #T20WorldCup2022

— Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7) October 24, 2022

#ZIMvSA #QuintonDeKock #DeKock

One of the best innings by Bavuma

Because he didn't waste any ball. https://t.co/lsLIBBneh5

— Hemant (@Sportscasmm) October 24, 2022

South Africa, rain, ICC tournaments are never good friends.

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 24, 2022

South Africa lose a point cos of rain. If rain had stopped and there was enough time for a 5 overs match, South Africa weren’t required to bat again because they had already achieved the revised target (46) for a 5 overs match. But rain didn’t stop to constitute a 5-over match.

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) October 24, 2022