SA women’s cricket team’s tour to Bangladesh comes to an untimely end
The South African Emerging Women’s team’s tour of Bangladesh came to an untimely end on Monday when they were forced to leave the country on a specially arranged flight so as to avoid being trapped when a hard Covid lockdown comes into effect on Wednesday.
The South Africans have lost all four of their 50-over games against their Bangladesh counterparts and were due to play the fifth and final match on Tuesday. But the government on Monday ordered an eight-day hard lockdown starting on Wednesday, which would have closed all airports.
Cricket South Africa confirmed that the team would be flying home on Monday evening and the entire squad are all in good health. They were ensconced in a bio-secure bubble in the north-eastern city of Sylhet and have had three Covid tests during their stay, all of which have been negative.
Bangladesh has reported more than 684 000 cases so far and almost 9 800 deaths. New infections have jumped to as high as 7 000 cases a day in recent weeks, after falling below 300 in February, and the death toll rose to a new daily high of 78 on Sunday.