Cricket South Africa confirmed that 3TC match to be played on 18th July

The extravagant and much anticipated 3 Team Cricket (3TC) match organised by Cricket South Africa is set to be played on the 18th of July, at the Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria on the occasion of the Nelson Mandela International Day.

Three teams, led by AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada, of eight players will compete against each other in a single match of 36 overs. Each team bats for a dozen overs, facing six overs from each of their opponents’ attacks. Bowlers are allotted three overs each.
In the second half of their innings, teams will bat in order of the highest scores made in the first half. The last batter will stand, meaning they stay at the crease after the fall of the seventh wicket and until they are dismissed. If a side are seven-down by the end of the first half of their innings, the last batter resumes in the second half.

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The confirmation of the reschedule came after the South African minister of Sport, Arts & Culture Nathi Mthethwa gave the thumbs up for practice and play after more than 3 months of lockdown in the country following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cricket South Africa stand-in Chief Executive Dr. Jacques Faul said, “It’s very exciting to get live cricket, featuring our top players, back on our TV screens again. 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 Corona virus. 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.”

There had been concerns over the conduct of this one-off 3TC game after the board failed to obtain government clearance for its staging on June 28 despite repeated assurances from Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith, that everything had been okayed. Further controversy over the game reared up following theories that Smith and Mark Boucher are founders and shareholders in the company that owns 3TC – a potential conflict of interest given their positions in the administration and team management respectively. CSA has since quashed aspersions to that effect, strongly denying their active involvement in the brains trust of the game.

The match, named as the Solidarity Cup, is meant to raise funds for people in the game who have suffered financially due to the pandemic.