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England captain Harry Brook described the rain-reduced T20 between England and South Africa in Cardiff as a “shambles of a night”.<\/b><\/p>\n
A delayed start until 20:50 BST saw the match reduced to nine overs a side and the tourists reached 97-5 after 7.5 overs before another downpour, which gave England a revised target of 69 from five. <\/p>\n
The hosts fell short on 54-5 to go 1-0 down in the three-match series, though Brook felt there was nothing to glean from the contest.<\/p>\n
“They got nine overs, we got five overs. You can’t take much from it,” said Brook.<\/p>\n
“It was a bit of a shambles. It was a long, long day but I don’t think we need to make any excuses up.<\/p>\n
“We probably didn’t execute as well as we should have done with bat and ball but it’s hard when you only bat for five overs.” <\/p>\n
The original playing conditions stated there would be a 2.4 over powerplay and that four bowlers could bowl a maximum of two overs each and one bowler could bowl one, which curiously did not change once England’s target was adjusted.<\/p>\n
Earlier, England made a late change to their team to remove Jofra Archer from the XI considering the conditions, and he was replaced by Luke Wood who took 2-22. <\/p>\n
“It would have been stupid to play him with the amount of cricket we’ve got coming up,” Brook added.<\/p>\n
“If he’d have gone out and done what Adam Hose did in The Hundred<\/a> and broken his leg or whatever, that would have been a shambles.”<\/p>\n Archer has been reintroduced to international cricket this summer with his first Test in four years and the hope that he will be fit for the winter’s Ashes in Australia. <\/p>\n Brook would not be drawn on whether the game should have gone ahead, adding that it was simply “up to the umpires”. <\/p>\n The series continues at Old Trafford on Friday, where there is also a mixed forecast.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n