South Africa vs England: 1st ODI abandoned again after hotel staff tests COVID-19 positive, entire tour looks doubtful

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Cape Town, December 6: The first ODI between South Africa and England has been called off for the second time after a member of the hotel tested COVID-19 positive where the two teams are staying.

The South African cricketers underwent a coronavirus test after a home team player was found positive for the virus which resulted in the postponement of the first ODI on Friday (December 4). The first 50-over game was scheduled to be played at Newlands on Friday but has been postponed to Sunday (December 6).

A joint statement was released 30 minutes prior to the toss by CSA and the ECB on Sunday (December 6) morning confirming that the start time had been delayed.

As per reports, England were awaiting results after being re-tested on Saturday evening, following two positive cases among staff in the hotel in which both teams are staying in Cape Town.

The hopes of the completion of the tour is doubtful because English players are scheduled to depart on a charter flight on Thursday (December 10).

Earlier on Saturday, CSA announced that entire Proteas squad tested negative.

"Cricket South Africa (CSA) is pleased to announce that the entire Proteas team has returned negative results from the COVID-19 tests that were conducted yesterday evening in Cape Town ahead of the three-match, One-Day International (ODI) series against England," CSA said in an official statement.

CSA had issued a statement and confirmed that the ODI series will commence on Sunday (December 6) at Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl and the remaining two games will be played at Newlands on December 6 and 7 respectively.

"Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the England Cricket Board (ECB) would like to announce the postponement of the first One-Day International (ODI) of the three-match series to Sunday, 6 December 2020," CSA had said.