AS the West Indies discovered under the weeping, leaden grey skies in this small town 20 miles south of Johannes-burg yesterday, the most dangerous obstacle to advancing from the preliminary round of the World Cup is not necessarily the opposing team but a combination of the toss and weather.
Rain, present all day in the gloom that required the use of floodlights from the start, became steady enough to abandon their match against Bangladesh with only 8.1 overs of their second innings completed.
So the West Indies, obliged to bat first on losing the toss, were left to share the four points they would have justifiably expected to add to the four gained from their opening victory against South Africa.
It was a denial that raises the pressure on them in their penultimate group match against Sri Lanka in Cape Town February 28.
Even if they win that, they can still lose more precious points should the weather step in to similarly affect their other matches against Canada, in nearby Pretoria on Sunday, and Kenya, in Kimberly, March 3.
South Africa, who were also affected by the elements in Johannesburg on Sunday when the dreaded Duckworth/ Lewis calculations had to be used in their devastating loss to New Zealand, are the immediate beneficiaries of the West Indies’ ill fortune.
But every favoured team will be nervously consulting the meteorological office from now on. In a tight race for the three spots available in the last six, the Super Sixes round, points that have to be shared with lesser opposition could be decisive.
The intermittent drizzle that had threatened all yesterday intensified enough for umpires Russel Tiffin of Zimbabwe and Trevor Jerling of South Africa to halt play at three o’clock.
It only let up just over two hours later but, by then, the deadline for a restart had passed by minutes.
Bangladesh have not won a single one-day international since their unexpected, some day dubious, victory over Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup.
They had already been beaten in this tournament by 60 runs by the enthusiastic amateurs of Canada, a result that confirmed their weakness, and by 10 wickets by Sri Lanka who began with Chaminda Vaas’ immediate hat-trick among four wickets in the opening over.
They might have exceeded their own expectations by limiting the West Indies to 244 for nine from their 50 overs but were tottering at 32 for two at the abandonment.
The West Indies’ total would have been even significantly less but for 13 wides and seven no-balls, mainly conceded in their opening overs with the new ball by the left-armer Manjural Islam and the tall teenager Talha Jubair.
Moreso, it was enhanced by another staggering display of clean power-hitting by Ricardo Powell.
His 50 off 31 balls included four sixes and three fours, 19 off one Manjural over and 13 off the next from Jubair, and accounted for 73 off the last seven overs.
Few hits will carry further than Powell’s first six, off medium-pacer Khaled Mahmud, that cleared the grass embankment at long-on and landed fully 100 yards away.
Several wickets fell to careless strokes that took no account of a slow pitch that offered favourable bounce and movement to any bowler of medium-pace and above with event a hint of control.
Predictably, Bangladesh, bowled out for 120 by Canada and 124 by Sri Lanka, were tormented by Merv Dillon and Vasbert Drakes and lost both openers, Al Sahariar and Ehsanal Haque, before the abandonment.
Both offered unaccepted catches to a slips cordon kept as busy as a rush hour highway.
Chris Gayle at second slip spared Ehsanul his second successive first ball dismissal to follow one in the Vaas hat-trick, missing a straightforward offering off Drakes’ first ball.
Hooper dropped Al Shariar, finger-tip high to his right, off Dillon, and Eshanul, face-high and straight, off Drakes.
Neither lasted much longer. Gayle finally latched on when Al Shariar once more edged Drakes and Dillon clipped Ehsnaul’s off-bail with a delivery that would have tested Tendulkar.
By then, it was clear it wouldn’t matter. The rain became steadier, if never heavy, and, in spite of the rain dance by dozens of animated schoolchildren behind a leader waving a West Indies flag, it did not relent in time.
Had Hooper won the toss and bowled first, as he would have, the West Indies would probably have beaten Bangladesh and the elements, given the conditions.
As it was, they couldn’t get their innings going properly against the steady bowling, supported by enthusiastic fielding, until Powell marched in at 158 for five half-way through the 40th over to transform proceedings.
Gayle and Wavell Hinds, whose opening partnerships were so decisive in the 4-3 triumph in India six months ago, fell cheaply once more.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was perplexed by successive balls from Ehsanul, a steady, medium-pace duplicate of Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara and Hooper went when set in the 40s and Ramnaresh Sarwan failed for once.
Gayle followed scores of 2 against South Africa and 22 against New Zealand with a fifth ball 0. He drove on the up to extra-cover off Manjural as did Lara off Ehsanul following a careful 46 with five fours that included 48 scoreless balls out of 76.
Hinds got a good one that he snicked to the solitary slip off Khaled Mahmud, an experienced, bustling medium-pacer who was Man of the Match in the famous 1999 win over Pakistan.
Sarwan, to Khaled, and Hooper, to the leg-spinner Alok Kapali, drove return catches and no one looked entirely convincing until Powell came along to show that batting wasn’t that difficult after all.
In the end, it meant nothing. All that mattered was the two points missed.