Rain fails to dampen Afro-Asia clash-match to start on schedule

Bangalore, Jun 6 (UNI) Despite heavy overnight rain, the day-night one-day match between Africa XI and Asia XI for Afro Asia cup will start on schedule.

Curator Narayan Raju said that the heavy rains had rendered outfield waterlogged but super soppers had done the trick and the field was fit for play and the match would start at scheduled 1430 hrs. "The pitch was well covered," he added.

Heavy rains lashed last night just a minute after the Twenty20 match between Asia and Africa ended with Asia romping home by six wickets.

However, the tie still faces the threat of rain with weather man saying that light rains were likely. A weather office report said cloudy weather would prevail with rains in the afternoon and evening.

The second and third ties in the three-match series would be held in Chennai on June nine and ten.

The newly laid pitch offer a challenging proposition to batsmen as it offered good bounce to the speedsters who was ready to bend their backs a bit more. Sreeshanth and Mushrafe Mortaza made the ball to jump putting the inexperienced Africans in difficulty.

However the two teams offer enough entertainers with the bat like Jayasurya, Ganguly, Sehwag and Dhoni from Asia and Justine Kemp leading Africa in the absence of Graeme Smith, Bosman and Boucher can enliven the evening.

UNI