Why SA20 final delayed: Why has PRE vs EAC final SA20 2023 been postponed?

SA20 2023 final match between Pretoria Capitals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape got postponed less than four hours before the scheduled start time. Although not entirely surprising considering the weather forecast at The Wanderers Stadium of not just the evening of the final but also the whole week, SA20 management took the decision keeping in mind all the stakeholders’ interests.

Capitals and Sunrisers were ranked at the first and third positions respectively on SA20 2023 points table. Both the teams had locked horns against each other twice in the league stage last month. Pretoria, who lost only three league matches, had managed to defeat Eastern Cape on both the occasions in the previous round.

Having started their inaugural seasons around the same time a month ago, SA20 and International League T20 final will now be played on the same Sunday evening.

Why SA20 final delayed?

As mentioned above, the match was almost certain to be interrupted by rainfall as also suggested by various weather portals. With Johannesburg receiving immense rainfall on the back of inclement weather conditions in the last few days, the venue had been severely waterlogged ahead of the last match of the tournament.

For the unversed, photos of the pitch for the final match covered with covers was doing the rounds across social media platform Twitter yesterday. As a result, the management didn’t find any sense in waiting for rain to stop on Saturday.

“We’ve engaged the match officials, teams, groundsman, stakeholders and the SA Weather Service, and postponing the match is the best decision to allow for the possibility of a full match in drier conditions. We want to give the teams and spectators a memorable Final,” former South Africa captain and SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith said in a statement.

When will SA20 2023 final be played now?

It is worth a mention that there had been a provision of a reserve day for all the three knockout matches of the competition. While reserve days come into action only after all possible attempts have been made of completing the match on the scheduled day, there appeared to be almost negligible chances for both the teams to bat for a minimum of five overs to constitute a match tonight.

Hence, SA20 2023 final match will now be played tomorrow, i.e., February 12, 2023. Contrary to the original start time of the final, the match will begin at 13:30 hours (local time) on the reserve day.

Ticket holders will be allowed to watch the match on the reserve day on the original tickets itself.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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