A week before India series, domestic games suspended due to Covid-19

Johannesburg: Just a week before the start of the Test series against India, South Africa has postponed the final round of matches in the domestic four-day tournament due to rising Covid-19 cases in the country. Cricket South Africa’s four-day franchise series, the country’s premier domestic competition, will be rescheduled for 2022.

Pholetsi Moseki, CSA’s acting CEO, said that Sunday’s four matches had been postponed as a safeguard in the light of the rising Covid-19 cases in the country over the past few weeks. “Ultimately these games being played outside a bio-secure environment made it difficult for us to continue with them,” Moseki added.

This is the third group of matches pushed back after Division 2 fixtures scheduled for December 2-5 and December 16-19 were also postponed. Domestic cricket has not been played in a bio-secure bubble so far this season in South Africa, which is currently in the midst of a fourth wave of the pandemic.

However, the series between India and South Africa, which starts on December 26, will be played in a bio-bubble environment. The Indian team had its first full training session today as captain Virat Kohli and head coach Rahul Dravid marshalled the players at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Agencies