Rain claimed victory over the Tshwane Spartans for a second successive game after their Mzansi Super League clash against the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants had to be abandoned in Centurion on Wednesday.
The match was effectively their first game of the 2019 campaign after game one against the Durban Heat was called off without a ball being bowled at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium on Saturday.
At SuperSport Park, they managed to get their campaign going, but were in heaps of trouble on 33 for four after 7.1 overs, before the skies lit up with lightning forcing the players off, with the inevitable storm soon following.
It meant that Tshwane managed to escape with two points from a fixture they could have well lost, although their star man, AB De Villiers, was still there when the game was halted.
Mark Boucher’s side had lost the toss and were asked to bat first, but found scoring difficult against some familiar faces in the opposition ranks, who knew the conditions all too well due to the number of years they spent in Centurion.
A trio of the NMBG had their number – Chris Morris was the chief tormenter with two for eight, Junio Dala bagged one for seven and Imran Tahir sent down a tidy two overs for 12.
Nandre Burger was the other man that excelled with none for five in two, including the only maiden of the innings.
The men to go were all South Africa internationals, starting with Theunis de Bruyn’s leading-edge off Morris to Tahir for six. The all-rounder got rid of Dean Elgar in the same over for a first-ball duck.
Vaughn van Jaarsveld (1) was then run out by Dala, who himself had captain Heinrich Klaasen (12) caught by Morris behind square-leg for 12.
The rain arrived not long after with De Villiers unbeaten on 10 – the points shared by both teams.
In partnership with ANA and Sports Leo
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