Rain ruins cricket in East London as SA v Windies ODI is washed out

At Buffalo Park, East London

The first ODI between South Africa and the West Indies was abandoned without a ball being bowled on Thursday.

That no play took place on Thursday was hardly surprising considering the stop-start nature of the rain that blew in from the Indian Ocean didn't allow the ground staff to get any sort of mop-up momentum going.

The rain, which started overnight, came in fits and starts that saw the ground staff clear the covers after a break in the weather, only for the rain to return with a vengeance.

Match abandoned.@Sport24news pic.twitter.com/s5sz5W94og

The clouds then ominously settled on the adjacent Bunkers Hill golf course and hardly moved from about 15:00 onwards.

It was about that time when the ground staff put the covers on for the last time before fourth umpire Bongani Jele took a walk around the field at 16:25.

The announcement came soon after and the players will again convene on Saturday for the second ODI where better weather is forecast and a far bigger crowd is expected.