Bristol, Aug 25:
The first ODI of the five-match series between India and England was today abandoned without a ball being bowled due to relentless rains and wet ground conditions here.
At the Gloucester County Ground, the match officials decided to call off the five-match series opener at 1.30 pm local time following heavy showers.
The forecast for the match was never good and it started raining late yesterday night, and it didn’t stop even for a while until morning.
The rain did subside for a 20-30 minutes, only to pour down with greater intensity thereafter and never relented for even a moment.
The grounds men though weren’t the ones to give up in a hurry. The whole square had been under covers since morning but they were busy clearing up rain-water. Three super soppers were put in to service but they would have been useful only if the rain had stopped.
The ground staffs efforts proved even more futile when puddles started forming on the outfield, signaling that the drainage was now getting choked.
The last cut-off time for the match to start was 3.45 pm local time (8.15 pm IST).
For that the grounds men needed atleast an hour before that to dry off the field for suitable playing conditions to prevail. The last cut-off for that was stipulated to be 2 pm local time (6.30 pm IST), but about thirty minutes before that, the umpires walked onto the field and inspected the conditions.
After observing the water accumulated on the covers as well as the heavy puddles on the outfield, the umpires finally decided to call off the game. It was always inevitable given that this entire week’s forecast is for wet weather. (PTI)
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