SOUTHAMPTON: Faf du Plessis can take some positives out of a washout at the Cricket World Cup: South Africa picked up a point against West Indies to end a three-game losing streak.

And with it, the South Africans retained some hope of qualifying for the semi-finals, despite originally estimating they’d need to win their last six group games to advance. The first of their remaining five matches is against Afgha­nistan in Cardiff on Saturday.

Only 7.3 overs were bowled at Hampshire’s Rose Bowl on Monday after West Indies skipper Jason Holder won the toss and sent South Africa in to bat, expecting the Duckworth-Lewis Method run-rate calculator to come into play with heavy rain on the forecast.

West Indies paceman Sheldon Cottrell twice got to use his trademark wicket celebration the military-style salute when he had Hashim Amla (6) caught by Chris Gayle at slip and Aiden Markram (5) caught behind. South Africa was struggling at 29-2 when play was suspended and the wicket square covered.

South Africa opener Quinton de Kock was unbeaten on 17 and du Plessis was not out without scoring.

Rain continued intermittently and there was no further play.

“Very disappointing [with the washout here], but you can’t control the weather. We didn’t get close to a game,” du Plessis said.

Du Plessis admitted his team was in need of a morale-boosting win against the minnows (Afghanistan).

“Everyone should be fit for the next game. We are in a bad position but it’s our own fault,” he said. “We haven’t played our best cricket so far and we need a solid performance to get the team’s confidence up. “

The South Africans were hoping on Monday to turn around their campaign after losses to England, Bangladesh and India to open the tournament but didn’t get the positive start they needed, with veteran Amla continuing to struggle.

The West Indies, meanwhile, were aiming for a second win in the tournament after opening with a commanding win over Pakistan and losing a tight contest to defending champions Australia.

The West Indies are back in Southampton on Friday to play England and skipper Jason Holder hopes all-rounder Andre Russell will be fit to face the hosts after missing Monday’s game with a knee injury.

“We are hoping he pulls up alright. I guess it is a blessing this game is over and we can look forward to the game against England,” Holder said.

The West Indies are fifth in the World Cup table with three points after three matches, while South Africa are second from bottom after four games, leaving their hopes of making the semi-finals hanging by a thread.

Monday’s game was the second washout of the tournament after the Pakistan-Sri Lanka match in Bristol last Friday was abandoned without a ball bowled.

STANDINGS

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, no-result, points, net run-rate):

New Zealand 3 3 0 0 6 +2.163

England 3 2 1 0 4 +1.307

India 2 2 0 0 4 +0.539

Australia 3 2 1 0 4 +0.483

West Indies 3 1 1 1 3 +2.054

Sri Lanka 3 1 1 1 3 -1.517

Pakistan 3 1 1 1 3 -2.412

Bangladesh 3 1 2 0 2 -0.714

South Africa 4 0 3 1 1 -0.952

Afghanistan 3 0 3 0 0 -1.493

Updated after South Africa vs West Indies abandoned match on Monday

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA:

Batsmen & mode of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

Q. de Kock not out 17 21 1 0 80.95

H.M. Amla c Gayle b Cottrell 6 7 1 0 85.71

A.K. Markram c Hope b Cottrell 5 10 1 0 50.00

F. du Plessis not out 0 7 0 0 0.00

EXTRAS (W-1) 1 - - - --

TOTAL (for two wkts, 7.3 overs) 29 - - - --

FALL OF WKTS: 1-11 (Amla, 2.5 ov), 2-21 (Markram, 6.1 ov).

DID NOT BAT: H.E. van der Dussen, D.A. Miller, A.L. Phehlukwayo, C.H. Morris, K. Rabada, Imran Tahir, B.E. Hendricks.

BOWLING: Cottrell 4-1-18-2; Roach 3-0-10-0 (1w); Thomas 0.3-0-1-0.

WEST INDIES: C.H. Gayle, S.D. Hope, D.M. Bravo, N. Pooran, S.O. Hetmyer, J,O. Holder, C.R. Brathwaite, A.R. Nurse, K.A.J. Roach, S.S. Cottrell, O.R. Thomas.

RESULT: Match abandoned.

UMPIRES: R.J. Tucker (Australia) and P. Wilson (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: S. Ravi (India).

MATCH REFEREE: D.C. Boon (Australia).

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2019