Visakhapatnam: Weather could play spoilsport during the first Test between India and South Africa starting here on Wednesday with rains predicted on all five days.
It has been raining here regularly since the last one week and there is an 80 percent chance of showers on the opening day of the series opener. There is 50 and 40 percent chance of rain on day two and three and play could also be affected on the final two days. The warm-up game between South Africa Board President’s XI in Vizianagram, around 50 kms from here, too was affected by rain. No play was possible on day one of the three-day game and start of day two was delayed due to a wet outfield. India are aiming for encore against South Africa, having beaten them 3-0 at home four years ago. India go into the three-match home series against Proteas looking to build on their early success in the ICC World Test Championship, while the visitors open their campaign in the competition. Virat Kohli led India to a 2-0 victory in the West Indies, which helped them grab the full 120 points available for a series, the only team to do so in three series played so far. Sri Lanka and New Zealand drew their two-match series 1-1 and are on 60 points each in the points table while England and Australia are on 56 each after their five-match Ashes series ended 2-2. The championship was launched to add context to the longest format of the game. Each match of the India-South Africa series, to be played in Visakhapatnam, Pune and Ranchi is worth 40 points since points in the WTC are evenly distributed over the number of matches in a series (two to five), ranging from 60 points for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series. So, India can go up to 240 points by grabbing all the points at stake in the series starting Wednesday. On the other hand, South Africa can join India at the top of the table with 120 points. The top two teams at the end of the league will play the final in the U K in June 2021 with the winners crowned the World Test champions. (PTI)
