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Chittagong, May 20: Heavy rains played
spoilsport as the third day's play of the opening cricket Test
match between India and Bangladesh was called off today without
a ball being bowled due to poor ground conditions. Umpires Billy
Doctrove and Daryl Harper decided to cancel the day's play in
consultation with curator Shaiful Alam Belal after inspecting
the conditions around 11 a.m. The rains, which had allowed only
20 overs of play yesterday, continued throughout the night and
there was more downpour this morning also leading to
waterlogging on the ground at the Bir Sreshta Shahid Ruhul Amin
Stadium. Scorecard
It created several puddles in the outfield which could have led
to injuries to the players and there was no sunshine either
since morning. The overcast conditions made it impossible to dry
the ground in time to squeeze in even a few overs. The
groundsmen were on their job since early morning but they could
do little in the face of adverse weather conditions. Belal had
earlier conceded that due to the clay soil in the lower layer,
drainage was a problem at the venue in case of rains. After more
than six hours wait, the play began at 4 p.m. yesterday and
India moved to 384/6 at stumps in their first innings.
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly struck tons while Bangladesh
picked up three quick wickets to peg back the Indians yesterday.
While the Bangladesh players did some practice at the indoor
gymnasium at the stadium premises, the Indian players stayed put
in their hotel. Earlier, the third and final one-dayer between
the two sides had also been washed out at the same venue on May
15 following rains triggered by 'Hurricane Akash'. The
organisers have decided that play would start half an hour early
tomorrow to partially compensate for the lost time.
Scorecard (Agencies)
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