South Africa vs. Australia 1st T20I Match Abandoned Due to Weather

The first T20I between Australia and South Africa was abandoned Sunday due to heavy rains.

Cricket Australia was the first to report the news and provided an update on their next scheduled match: 

The Australian visitors were greeted by pouring rain in the morning, and the weather didn't let up for the remainder of the day. Brad Hodge could see what was coming:

The square was rapidly covered, but the outfield had no protection from the rain and a closer inspection of the pitch led to a first delay:

After an hour or so the skies seemed to clear, and with a break in the rain officials were hopeful the teams could start their series as planned after all. Cricket Australia had an image of the roller being deployed:

But the rains quickly returned and grew fiercer as the day progressed, forcing the officials to call the game, as reported by ESPN Cricinfo.

Heading in to the match, Brydon Coverdale of ESPN Cricinfo provided a statement from South Africa coach Russell Domingo discussing his team: 

"We have won nine out of our last 12 T20 matches in the last year. I'm happy with the progress we have made."

Coming off a tightly contested Test series, this T20I between rivals South Africa and Australia was highly anticipated by fans worldwide, and the cancellation of the first match is not the way we all wanted it to start.

The series will now get underway Wednesday.