Second Indo-Sri Lanka ODI also called off

Colombo, Aug 20: The sunny morning proved a false dawn in the end and the gullible sparse crowd, conned into believing in the prospect of a match, was duped again as the second India-Sri Lanka ODI was called off due to inclement weather at the Singhalese Sports Club here today.

Morning shows the day but this was not the case today. The dejected organisers couldn't be blamed for believing that the sky was in fact a huge reservoir with an irreparable leak and they simply have run out of means to placate the whimsical weather God.

Exactly a week since the tournament was originally scheduled to start, only 22 balls could be bowled as the series, so far, witnessed 16 minutes of play on Friday and the highlight being Sachin Tendulkar's comeback after a five-month hiatus, necessitated by a shoulder surgery.

For the first time in the jinxed series, the organisers didn't look very keen and despite bright sunshine in the morning, refused to lift the covers. Finally when Match Referee Chris Broad and umpires Billy Bowden and Ashoka De Silva came for the first inspection, covers were removed but by then, the sun had hidden behind the dark clouds and thus the ground was denied of some precious sunshine.

This was intriguing from the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) authorities who have tried everything they could to keep the series alive, even though unrelenting rain undid all the hard work put in.

SLC announcement of a 1000 hrs start sounded ambitious and the match officials decided their inspection at 1230 hrs. After having a thorough look at the ground, the match referee deferred another round of inspection at 1500 hrs but heavy showered battered the ground again, thus washing away any prospect of the tie.

The match has been scheduled tomorrow, if weather permits at all.

''We have the same information to give that we are at the mercy of weather and have to go back with the hopes that there is a tomorrow for all of us. We have been putting in a Trojan effort for the event but one after another setback has derailed the tournament.

The weather may remain the same, or if we are fortunate enough, it might change tomorrow. We are keeping our fingers crossed, simply because we have no other option left,'' rued SLC media manager Samantha Algama.

UNI