Impressive half-centuries from Kyle Verreynne and debutant Zubayr Hamza proved to be in vain as the rain had the final say in the opening One-Day International (ODI) match between South Africa and Netherlands at SuperSport Park, Centurion last week.

Verreynne (95 off 112 balls) and Hamza (56 off 79 balls) top-scored for the home side as they recorded a competitive 277 / 8 in their allotted overs, with the Dutch team only managing 11 / 0 before a mixture of lightning and rain forced the players off the park indefinitely.

Although the hosts lost their openers within the first seven overs, the Proteas batters stabilized the innings in fine fashion with the Western Province duo of Hamza and Verreynne combining for a crucial 119-run stand for the third wicket before Hamza fell for a maiden ODI fifty.

Despite losing two more partners around him, wicket-keeper batter Verreynne kicked on with the willow, teaming up with all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo, who blasted 48 runs off just 22 deliveries, including an incredible six maximums.

Verreynne, in search of his first ton in ODI cricket, eventually fell five runs short of the milestone to becoming Vivian Kingma’s (2/49) second scalp of the contest as the Proteas innings culminated with the wicket of Phehlukwayo on the last ball.

In reply, Holland’s innings failed to get off the ground, with the overcast conditions in Centurion quickly turning into heavy showers and lightning.

After two more hours of downpour, umpires Adrian Holdstock and Marais Erasmus along with the match referee, Andy Pycroft declared the match abandoned.

The visitors from Europe were supposed to play their second ODI of the short tour again in Centurion against the Proteas on Sunday. Then the news broke about the alleged “new variant” of Covid that apparently broke out in South Africa.

Following this, panic broke out everywhere and it was soon announced that a travel ban had been introduced by various countries to and from South Africa.

It was first announced that the cricket unions of South Africa and the Netherlands are urgently investigating the matter and that players’ health will be put first. Then came the announcement on Saturday that Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond (KNCB) have mutually agreed to defer the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series.

It was said that the decision came as a result of mounting anxiety and concern on the side of the visiting team around travel bans and restrictions on flights from South Africa being imposed by several countries around the world including the United Kingdom (UK), European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA). These actions were as a result of Thursday’s announcement by the National Department of Health of South Africa of a new variant of the Covid-19 virus discovered in the country.

“We are disappointed by the unfortunate situation we find ourselves in, but the comfort of all visiting teams must always be paramount. The mental well-being of players is one of CSA’s top priorities, and we respect our visitors’ position and point of view. CSA and KNCB will get into discussions around possibly rescheduling the tour within this cycle of the ICC Future Tours Programme ending in 2023,” said CSA Acting CEO, Pholetsi Moseki.

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