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“It’s still raining,” says Ian Ward, “but it’s a lot less intense than it was.” The super-sopper has been in action. It could be a long night and a short game.
My optimism about the Cardiff weather may have been misplaced. The cameras are showing the outfield, which is doing an impersonation of Grimsby Town’s home turf when they beat Man United. “Looks like a paddy field,” says Ian Ward. The umpires venture out for a look in their pink cagoules, and soon put their umbrellas up.
Some team news: Lungi Ngidi is out of the series. He has a hamstring strain, according to our friends at Cricinfo. His place in South Africa’s battery of seamers will go to Nandre Burger, but not until the second game at Old Trafford on Friday.
Sure enough, the toss has been delayed. But on the telly, over Nasser Hussain’s shoulder, it looks reasonably bright.
Preamble
Evening everyone and welcome to yet another international cricket series. Yes, just three days after England’s biggest win ever in one format, they’re switching to a different one – 20 overs a side rather than 50. The ball will still be white, but we can say with some certainty that England will not beat South Africa by 342 runs again. In fact, they’d probably settle for a win by the barest of margins.
Are England favourites? The ICC’s T20 team rankings would say so: they have England third in the world (behind only India and Australia), with South Africa fifth (behind New Zealand). But South Africa are on the up and have just seen off England in an ODI series. That 342-run thrashing wasn’t just the biggest victory ever, it was a Pyrrhic one too. And South Africa’s firepower, already formidable on a good day, may well be boosted tonight by Donovan Ferreira, who was last seen running hot in his role as The Heater for the Oval Invincibles.
England are resting their ODI openers, Jamie Smith and the patently exhausted Ben Duckett, so it’s back to the future with Phil Salt and Jos Buttler. They could do with some runs and some street wisdom from their young captain, Harry Brook, who seems to have been persuaded that he needs five proper bowlers. He can get there painlessly now that the selectors have finally recalled Sam Curran, who, if he brings his form from The Hundred and the Blast, should strengthen both England’s batting and their bowling, not to mention their ability to make you laugh with a slower ball.
Play starts at 6.30 BST, as long as the showers hold off. All being well I’ll be back soon with news of the toss and the teams.
