Rain washes out ODI

Visakhapatnam: The inaugural one-day limited-over match between India A and New Zealand A at the picturesque Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA stadium here in the city was abandoned on Friday without a ball being bowled following heavy rain. However, there was a ray of hope as the BCCI has decided to host the match on Saturday if weather favours.

The managements of both the teams have decided to play a full game on Saturday rather than a curtailed affair after the over two-hour delay. The administrators of ACA and VDCA were also asked to look into the possibility of making the match a day-night affair if the situation warranted. Both the teams have reached the stadium around 9 am but due to the wet outfield, the match was abandoned following a quick chat with the groundsmen.

Due to rain on Thursday night and Friday morning, the ground had taken a lot of water despite protecting covers. There was bright sunshine in the morning for some time but that was not enough.
Match referee Prakash Bhatt and umpires Sadashiv Iyer and Rohan Pandit declared that the match could not be held after an inspection at 11.30 am.

Both the coaches Rahul Dravid and Shane Bond have spent some time overseeing the drainage work. The one-day series is crucial for the young cricketers of the host country and visitors since they have to pick up a few players for the ensuing one-day international series and the Twenty20 matches.