Frustration as rain washes out Friday’s SA20 matches in Johannesburg and Durban

Until the rain ended it on Friday, the return of the Betway SA20 to Johannesburg had been tremendous fun for all involved except the home team’s bowlers.

Such is the state of things in the modern game that Jos Buttler and Jason Roy moved seamlessly from the blue of England to the loud pink of Paarl Royals and for 21 balls richly entertained a sparse but growing crowd at the Wanderers with an opening stand of 53.

Meanwhile, clad in the yellow of the Joburg Super Kings was Australian Matthew Wade, immediately thrust into the wicketkeeper role, having replaced a fast bowler Alzarri Joseph.

The big West Indies quick had journeyed across the Limpopo River to join his national team for their short tour to Zimbabwe with the first of two Tests between those teams starting on Saturday.

There was also Kyle Simmonds who was roped in by the Super Kings to replace Aaron Phangiso, whose action had been deemed illegal by the tournament’s independent bowling action panel, which was subsequently confirmed after testing by an official ICC accredited practitioner.

Simmonds saw the first three balls he bowled bashed for fours, and the second ball of his second over hammered for six, so may feel all right about conceding just 20 given the carnage wrought elsewhere.

Roy, who scored a hundred for England in the first ODI against the Proteas, continued to play with freedom on Friday making 61 off only 42 balls and hitting eight fours and three sixes in the process.

The bowling was, to put it mildly, average.

That Donovan Ferreira’s part-time floaters brought a return of 1/5 from two overs is not a good reflection on the rest of the Super Kings attack.

There were far too many short balls and many of those sat perfectly in the hitting arc of the Royals batters.

Perhaps they will look at the rains as a blessing in disguise.

Having shaken off the cobwebs after the break, they can look ahead to Sunday’s match against the Sunrisers Eastern Cape knowing they can only produce an improved performance.

Meanwhile, rain once again proved the decider as the later match between the Durban Super Giants and Sunrisers Eastern Cape was abandoned at Kingsmead Stadium.

When the match stopped, the Sunrisers were on 53/3 after 5.2 overs with Adam Rossington and Jon-Jon Smuts unbeaten on 35 and 9 respectively after the demise of Temba Bavuma (0), Jordan Hermann (0) and Aiden Markram (6).

For the home side, Reece Topley returned with the wickets of Bavuma and Hermann and he was supported by Wiaan Mulder who accounted for Markram while David Willey and Keemo Paul were empty-handed.

The four teams each walked away with two points.

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