Cricket South Africa (CSA) has found government approval and a new date to host the Solidarity Cup, a three-team event which will see each side batting 12 overs in two different parts in a single 36-over encounter.
The game will now take place on July 18 at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, having been earlier postponed from its original date of June 27 because of the government not providing the necessary approval for return to training and match-day protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read Also: 44 South Africa cricketers return to training after sports ministry's green signal
The players were allowed to finally hit the ground again on Monday (June 29), which paved way for the three-team concept to see the light of the day on the historic occasion of 102nd birth anniversary of the great Nelson Mandela.
"I can’t think of a more appropriate day on which to hold this game than Nelson Mandela Day when its prime objective is to raise funds for those who have been badly affected by the Coronavirus,” CSA Acting Chief Executive Jacques Faul said in a statement on Wednesday (July 1).
“It is still nearly three weeks away, so it also gives our players more time to prepare properly and to minimise the chance of injuries."
"I would like to thank the Government and our own medical team once again for everything they have done to make a return to training and playing possible and I would also like to add special thanks to the incredible sponsors involved in this event for their continued commitment towards the match and its beneficiary, the Hardship Fund," he added.
The three teams - Eagles, Kingfishers and the Kites - featuring 24 top Proteas cricketers divided into eight per side, will be captained by AB de Villiers, Kagiso Rabada and Quinton de Kock, respectively.
As per the interesting rules, at the fall of the seventh wicket, the last remaining batsman can carry on but only score in even numbers - twos, four or a six - and the team with the highest aggregate total at the end will be declared the winners.
The fixture will not only provide much-needed game time for South African players, who until this week had been confined to the four walls of their homes due to the ongoing viral outbreak, but also raise funds for charity.
The rainbow nation is still reporting a constant rise in the number of positive cases. In the province of Gauteng, where the Solidarity Cup will be played, the increase has been sharp in the last week.
