South Africa were left frustrated after rain forced their T20 World Cup clash with Zimbabwe to be abandoned in bizarre fashion.
Zimbabwe had made 79-5 in Hobart after rain continually disrupted the game that had been reduced to nine overs a side. But South Africa could not complete their required overs and, despite cruising to 51-0, they had to settle for one point.
Quinton de Kock led the South African charge with 23 from the first over and, as more rain fell, their target was reduced to 64 from seven overs.
The conditions worsened in the Group 2 clash and the safety of players was compromised when Richard Ngarava slipped and injured his thigh, while wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva also lost his footing.
South Africa had reached 51-0 from three overs - a total that would have been enough from five overs, the minimum number required in T20 cricket.
But the match could not be reduced further and after the umpires decided to take the players off the pitch, a point was awarded to each side with no result given.
South Africa head coach Mark Boucher said: "We were in a very good position, so when you walk away from this game you're going to be thinking 'we're hard done by', whether the game should have been played or not.
"What was disappointing from our perspective was that we were like 'are we even going to get a game today?' when we arrived, but then we got four-fifths of the way there and we went off the field. We got so close and it got taken away from us and that is probably the most frustrating part."
His comments were echoed by Zimbabwe coach Dave Houghton, who added: ""The rain got so heavy at one stage it was ridiculous. For most of the evening it was misty mizzle but it got to the stage where you could hear it thumping on the rooftop of the dugout. That's time to get off the field."
South Africa take on Bangladesh next up on Thursday, while Zimbabwe face off against Pakistan in Group 2.
