ICC World Cup: Rain forces South Africa, Windies to split points
Southampton: Incessant drizzle forced the World Cup tie between South Africa and West Indies to be called off at the Rose Bowl here on Monday after only few overs could be bowled, as both teams shared the spoils.
Andre Russell-less West Indies put the Proteas in to bat after winning the toss with skipper Jason Holder hoping to make use of the overcast conditions.
Desperate for a win after three successive defeats, Faf Du Plessis led South Africa were off to a jittery start, losing out-of-form Hashim Amla (6) and Aiden Markram (5) early to totter at 29/2 in 7.3 overs.
Windies pacer Sheldon Cottrell bagged both the wickets in a wonderful four-over spell in which he leaked 18 runs. Oshane Thomas had just started his first over when the skies opened up, and after several inspections, the umpires had to rule out any chance of further play being possible.
Under the cosh, South Africa can now score a maximum of 11 points in this tournament, while the West Indies, who lost to Australia last week after a good opening win against Pakistan, have a better chance of bouncing back.
"These are the worst. Both teams wanted to play and get results but you can't control the weather," Du Plessis said.
"For us it was important to not lose wickets. It's like Test cricket. But they did well to get two wickets. (Shortage) favours the team that bats second. But even saying that, if you get 30-35 overs, you can defend on a big ground. Lungi (Ngidi) will be ready for the next match. We didn't play our best cricket so far. We've got to beat Afghanistan (in the next game)," the 34-year old added.
Holder said their bowlers got a good start but could not cash in thanks to the inclement weather.
"Yeah, really good start again by the bowlers. It's unfortunate the weather came in our way. So far we've been getting new ball wickets. It's just a matter for our bowlers to hit the straps and continue doing what we're doing. We don't mind giving away runs. We're hoping Russell pulls up before the next game," Holder said.
The Windies were without the injured pair of Russell and Evin Lewis.
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Nagpur explosives factory blast: Death toll rises to 19
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Nagpur (PTI): The death toll in the Nagpur explosives company blast has gone up to 19 after one more person succumbed, police said on Monday.
Twenty-three other injured workers were undergoing treatment in hospitals here, a police official said.
The toll in the blast at the SBL Energy Limited factory on Sunday has risen to 19 with the death of one more worker, he said.
A high-level meeting chaired by Nagpur Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule was underway at the divisional commissionerate here to deliberate and take stock of the incident that took place on Sunday.
Senior officials from various departments, local legislators and other leaders were present in the meeting.
The police have arrested nine directors of SBL Energy Limited, where the blast took place on Sunday morning, officials said.
The Kalmeshwar police here have registered a case against 21 directors and shareholders of the company under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, they said.
The explosion occurred at the detonator packing unit of SBL Energy Limited, a mining and industrial explosives manufacturer, at Raulgaon in Katol tehsil of Nagpur district.
The bodies were charred beyond recognition, and samples of the family members were being taken for DNA testing to ascertain the identities of the deceased, police said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered a thorough investigation into the cause of the explosion.
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