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The India vs South Africa second T20I came to a halt for a bizarre reason. A snake was spotted by South African fielders and pointed out to Indian opener KL Rahul and the umpires. As soon as the cameraperson showed the snake on the big screen, the groundsmen at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati rushed to the middle with necessary equipment to catch hold of the snake. Meanwhile, the players took an unofficial drinks break as the reptile was taken off the ground.
This is not the first time a snake has interrupted play on Indian grounds. In 2019, a Ranji Trophy match between Andhra and Vidarbha in Vijaywada was delayed after the snake was spotted in the ground. While there was necessary equipment available to tackle the situation in the second T20I, the groundsmen at Vijaywada tried to chase the snake out of the ground as players waited.
Earlier, the Proteas skipper won the toss and opted to field first. Rohit made no changes to the winning combination. The Indian openers got India off to a blazing start. The two batters shared a 96-run opening partnership which was broken by Keshav Maharaj in the 10th over. Rohit missed his half-century as he got out after scoring 43 runs from 27 deliveries including seven fours and one six.
On the other hand, Rahul answered the criticism over his strike rate in style. After scoring the slowest T20I fifty in the previous game, he got to his half-century from just 24 deliveries. He got to the fifty-run mark with a massive six off Aiden Markram’s bowling. Rahul lost his wicket to Maharaj as well. He 28-ball 57 was laced with five fours and four sixes. He scored at an astonishing strike rate of 203.57.
