Akshay Thakur - Wednesday, Dec 17, 2025IND vs SA 4th T20 Abandoned: The fourth match of the 5-match T20 series between India and South Africa was scheduled to be held at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, but the match had to be cancelled due to heavy fog on the ground.
The fourth match of the five-match T20 series between India and South Africa was scheduled to be played at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, but the match had to be canceled due to dense fog on the ground. Lucknow has been experiencing continuous cold weather for the past few days, and the combined effect of the cold and pollution resulted in thick fog. While international cricket matches have been canceled for various reasons in the past, this is the first time a match has been called off due to dense fog.
The fourth T20 match between India and South Africa was scheduled to begin at 7 PM IST at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, but due to dense fog, the umpires decided to delay the toss, which was supposed to take place at 6:30 PM. They initially decided to assess the conditions at 6:50 PM.
When the umpires inspected the ground, the situation had worsened, and they decided to conduct another inspection at 7:30 PM.
Even after the second inspection, the situation did not improve due to the fog, so a third inspection was conducted at 8 PM. Following this, the umpires decided to assess the conditions again at 8:30 PM. After the fourth inspection, they decided to inspect the ground again at 9 PM, but after the sixth inspection at 9:25 PM, with no improvement in conditions, the match was abandoned.
While the fourth T20 match had to be abandoned due to fog, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Lucknow is also very poor, currently exceeding 400. This is causing difficulties for players from both the Indian and South African teams. Team India's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya and other players were seen wearing masks on the field. The final match of the series between the two teams will now be played in Ahmedabad on December 19.
