By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The SA20 opening encounter between the defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Joburg Super Kings at St George’s Park on Thursday has been called off without a ball being bowled on Wednesday.
Originally scheduled to start at 5:30pm, scattered showers fell in Gqeberha for much of the morning and afternoon, leading to the announcement of the delayed toss at 5pm.
Despite this, hopeful cricket fans continued to pour into the stadium in their numbers while the band had the crowd dancing to their tunes.
There was a bit of movement as the ground staff began to remove the covers while the players stretched their legs on the wet outfield, however, the match was eventually abandoned shortly after 8pm.
Match two in the competition sees the Durban Super Giants clash with MI Cape Town in Durban on Thursday, where more rain is expected to fall, while Friday sees the Paarl Royals host 2023 runners-up Pretoria Capitals at Boland Park.
The JSK take on MICT for their first home game in Saturday’s early game while the Sunrisers take on the DSG in the late game in Gqeberha.