COVID -19 strikes West Indies - Australia ODI series, 2nd match postponed

The West Indies - Australia ODI series has been dealt with a COVID scare as a non-playing member of the West Indies contingent returned a positive result for COVID 19. The report came moments before the start of second ODI, forcing the entire contingent of both teams into isolation and resulting in the postponement of the second ODI.

“The second ODI between West Indies and Australia has been postponed due a positive Covid-19 test result from a non-playing member of the West Indies team,” said a Cricket West Indies statement. “This decision was taken after the toss at Kensington Oval once the result was known due to the Covid-19 protocols. “All members of both teams and match officials will be retested today. A decision on when the match will replayed will be made at a later date once the test results are known.”

Australian skipper Alex Carey had won the toss and opted to bat. However, moments before the players were about to walk out onto the field, the report came positive. As per COVID-19 protocols, members of both teams were sent into isolation. The players will be retested today before the final call on the series is taken.

The third and final game of the series is set to be played tomorrow, on July 24 and it’s highly unlikely that the game will go ahead as players need to serve at least three days in isolation after coming in close contact with a positive person. Also, Australia are set to depart for Bangladesh on July 29 thus there is very little time to accommodate the remaining matches thus we can assume that the series is done and dusted now. Australia had won the first ODI by 133 runs.