3rd Test: South Africa v New Zealand at Johannesburg, 8-12 Dec 2000 CricInfo Live Report

3rd Test: South Africa v New Zealand at Johannesburg, 8-12 Dec 2000
Peter Robinson

Pre-game: Third Test delayed, No play before lunch, First day washed out,

NO PLAY ON FIRST DAY AT THE WANDERERS

No play was possible because of rain on the first day of the third Castle Lager/MTN Test match between South Africa and New Zealand at the Wanderers on Friday.

Play was officially abandoned at 4.15pm after intermittent rain had fallen throughout the day.

Earlier, attempts had been made to dry damp patches on the pitch with a paint stripper. The patches had apparently been caused by overnight sweating under the covers and the absence of a hessian sheet which is used to absorb rising moisture was blamed for exacerbating the problem.

South Africa lead 2-0 in the series and interest in the final Test was centred largely on the debut of Mfuneko Ngam, South Africa’s new fast bowling find.

Play on Saturday is now scheduled to start 30 minutes early at 10.00am.

RAIN STILL FALLING AT THE WANDERERS

No play was possible on the first morning of the third Castle Lager/MTN Test match between South Africa and New Zealand on Friday and with rain falling steadily over the Wanderers Stadium, the likelihood of the game starting at all appeared remote.

The scheduled start of play at 10.30am had been delayed by a wet outfield and damp patches on the pitch caused by overnight sweating under the covers.

With the rain continuing to fall, the umpires could give no indication when a further inspection of the conditions might take place.

DAMP OUTFIELD DELAYS THIRD TEST MATCH

Overnight rain which left the outfield damp delayed the start of the third Castle Lager /MTN Test match between South Africa and New Zealand at the Wanderers on Friday. The umpires were due to inspect the conditions at the scheduled start of play at 10.30am with a view to play getting underway at 11am.

South Africa lead the three-Test series 2-0.