Hobart rain cruelly denies Proteas vital points over Zimbabwe in farcical circumstances

Will Hobart's icy rain knock the stuffing out of the Proteas' ICC T20 World Cup campaign or inspire them to simply be rampant and try and swat aside everything that's put in front of them?

AS IT HAPPENED | SA v Zimbabwe

That's the proverbial million-dollar question being asked after Temba Bavuma and his troops agonisingly were cruelly denied potentially crucial log points after the elements finally got the better of them in an ultimately farcical opening Super 12 encounter against Zimbabwe on Monday.

Confronted with a target of 80 in nine overs, which was subsequently reduced to 64 off 7, South Africa were 51 without loss after just three overs when umpires Ahsan Raza and Michael Gough, rightly, decided that the players couldn't stay on in bucketing rain.

As a result, the Southern African neighbours share one log point, placing the Proteas under increased pressure to win all four of their remaining games to advance to the playoffs.

It's worth noting that four wins out of five last year wasn't enough.

With due respect, South Africa were expected to get their tilt at the title off to an ideal start against nuggety if limited opponents and were looking on with frustration as the weather intervened just after the national anthems had been sung.

That would be the theme for the rest of the night.

Quinton de Kock gamely and spectacularly tried his utmost best to keep the weather at bay, smashing eight fours and a six on his way for an 18-ball 46.

However, by the latter stages of that effort, conditions had become rather farcical, even though the umpires deserve credit for trying to hold out in what was essentially an impossible situation.

Zimbabwe's lanky left-arm seamer Richard Ngarava had already been a victim of the wet surface when