‘Rain plays spoilsport’ – Twitter goes berserk as the fifth T20I between India and South Africa abandoned due to rain

Bengaluru was waiting for a fantastic series-decider as India took on South Africa for the fifth and final T20I match of the series on Sunday. After winning the last two matches, India levelled the series and with the winning momentum on their side, they were looking to win this one also.

On the other side, South Africa was in some trouble due to some injury threats. Their captain Temba Bavuma was unlikely to play along with Wayne Parnell. However, Rain played spoilsport and the match was abandoned after just 3.3 overs.

Despite some drizzle, match started a bit late but after 3.3 overs, the covers were brought back again. Indian skipper Rishabh Pant lost his fifth consecutive toss as South Africa opted to bowl again. They made three changes. Reeza Hendricks came in place of Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada came in place of Marco Jansen, and Tristan Stubbs came in place of Tabraiz Shamsi. Meanwhile, India went to the match with an unchanged eleven.

But, just before the start of the innings, the rain came and delayed the start of the match. After a 15-20 minute shower, umpires inspected and decided to kick off the match at 7:50 PM IST. As a result, it became a 19-over match. According to that rescheduled time, innings got started and Ishan Kishan started with a second-ball-six against Maharaj.

16 runs came off the first over. But Lungi Ngidi came and turned the game straight away in his two overs. He took both the wickets of the Indian openers, thanks to his off-cutters. But again, after 3.3 overs, covers were brought back and the match got halted. Ishan Kishan scored 15 runs off seven balls while Ruturaj scored only 10 runs off 12 balls.

Ngidi bowled 1.3 overs for six runs with two wickets. Then, players, fans, and umpires waited till 9:40 PM IST before the match had been abandoned and the series was shared at a score line of 2-2. it eventually saw a shameful end to the series. This result ensured that South Africa maintained their record of not losing a limited-over series in India since 2010.            

Here is how Twitter reacted to the match:

Not how we wanted this to end.

Rain plays spoilsport as the match has been abandoned, with the series drawn 2⃣-2⃣#INDvSA

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) June 19, 2022

https://twitter.com/PunjabKingsIPL/status/1538555692872630273

https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1538532566319308802

https://twitter.com/OfficialCSA/status/1538554997234860036

https://twitter.com/VBharadwaj02/status/1538537134155788288

Cricket fans in Bangalore right now #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/OkOFFCXAIm

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) June 19, 2022

https://twitter.com/cricketaakash/status/1538555286788579328

https://twitter.com/a_lowercase_guy/status/1538560119583014912

https://twitter.com/CricTelegraph/status/1538560120581681152

South Africa haven't lost a limited-over series in India since 2010#INDvSA

— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) June 19, 2022

Sad but what about the guy who had Ngidi as captain and dropped both Kishan and Gaikwad in #Dream11 #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/vuSV9PMYsN

— The Cricket Statistician (@CricketSatire) June 19, 2022

Indians to hit consecutive Sixes in 1st Over of a T20I match

Sehwag vs Southee [6,6,6 In 2009]
Ishan vs Maharaj [6,6 In 2022]*#INDvSA

— Sahil Vaddoriya (@sonofvaddoriya) June 19, 2022

https://twitter.com/StarSportsIndia/status/1538560410252718080

The game has been abandonded. Series shared 2-2.#INDvSA #RishabhPant #IndianTeam #TeamIndia #CricketTwitter #ICC pic.twitter.com/UlzdisxuTn

— Crictips (@CrictipsIndia) June 19, 2022

https://twitter.com/SndFaisal/status/1538561305946095616