|
First ODI
abandoned for the day due to rain, will be
continued tomorrow |
August 18, 2006 (Click to see the
Scorecard)
The Unitech Cup finally got alive and kicking at
2:30 PM local time but was shut down once again
owing to bad weather after just 22 balls were
bowled. Today's first ODI between Sri Lanka and
India was never going to start in time due to
heavy showers in the morning and the teams had
to be confined to their hotel rooms. However a
ground inspection at 1:00 PM suggested that a
full 50-overs-a-side match could get underway at
2:30 PM with the match spread out in two days.
India's Rahul Dravid had won the toss and
elected to bat first ignoring the fact that the
wicket could have been slightly damp due to the
sweating underneath the covers. The Skipper
opened the innings with the Comeback Man -
Sachin Tendulkar and both were up against
Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga. Both the
bowlers had the better of the batsmen as they
got the ball to move around to keep the two
batsmen cautious in their approach. Dravid did
get a couple of boundaries with one being an
easy picking leg glance off Lasith Malinga and
the other being a square cut to spoil what would
have been a second maiden over from Chaminda
Vaas. The light was the problem soon with the
black clouds kidnapping the sun somewhere and
play had to be suspended with the two Umpires
Billy Bowden and Asoka de Silva offering the
light to the batsmen. There was absolutely no
way that the Indians could hang on there and
face Lasith Malinga's slinging deliveries at
over 140kmph under fading light conditions. The
Sri Lankan fielders stood there for sometime but
eventually it was a thunderstorm that roared
over Colombo forcing people to run for shelter.
It would be a miracle if play gets underway at
the scheduled 10:00 AM start tomorrow with all
the rain that is hitting the ground at the
moment. All in all, this has been a disastrous
tournament for the Organizers, the Sponsors and
others with just 22 balls of international
cricket produced in the last five days!
There should be some play possible tomorrow once
the rain stops and India would resume its
innings at 11/0 in 3.4 overs with Dravid on 9
and Tendulkar on 2. The same teams will again
turn up day after tomorrow for the 2nd ODI of
this 3-match Series. The Sri Lankan Board is
trying its best to make it a five-match series
but it looks most certain that the Indians are
here for only diplomatic pressures. Had India
pulled out like South Africa because of the bomb
blast then they would give enough wrong signals
for all the teams that would be taking part in
the Champions Trophy that is hosted by them in
October. Mumbai, the commercial capital of the
country was hit by serial bomb blasts recently
in a terrorist attack and thus the BCCI wants to
show the entire world that the cricket has to go
on and not to surrender to the threat posed by
any terror. For now, life of the Unitech Cup is
at the mercy of the Rain Gods.
Top of the Page |
