South Africa’s 3 Team Cricket gets postponed

South Africa’s 3 Team Cricket gets postponed: The innovative format will have to wait in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

3 Team Cricket, an innovative cricket tournament which was expected to resume the sport in South Africa, has been postponed in the wake of the COVID-19 threat.

Announced earlier this week, the intriguing format would seen a 36-over match divided into two innings of 18 overs each. Each team will bat for six overs in an innings and face both the teams across as many innings. As is the general rule in cricket, the team would scores more runs would have been declared as the winners.

Scheduled to be played in Centurion, Cricket South Africa haven’t managed to arrange government permission to conduct an exhibition match in a COVID-19 hotspot.

“Because it is an activity played in a hotspot, it needs to be referred to the department of health. We will have to be delayed,” CSA’s acting CEO Jacques Faul was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

South Africa’s 3 Team Cricket gets postponed

Former South Africa captain and current director of cricket Graeme Smith had himself given approval to the tournament. However, there have been murmurs of the decision been made in a hurry.

“The operational teams behind the solidarity match and event partners in collaboration with CSA, 3TCricket, and [broadcaster] SuperSport met to consider the readiness to host the event on June 27.

“Following this meeting it has become clear that more work is needed in preparation, including approval. A new date will be announced in due course,” CSA said in a release on Saturday.

In addition to white-ball captain Quinton de Kock and spearhead Kagiso Rabada, former captain AB de Villiers was slated to lead the third team in the one-off match. Considering the talks regarding de Villiers’ international comeback, 3TC would have been the start of the same for the 36-year old player.

As far as South Africa’s international matches are concerned, their tour of Sri Lanka has already been postponed and tour of West Indies is likely to move on the same path.