The four-day Group-B Ranji match between host Odisha and last year’s runners-up Tamil Nadu suffered a setback as the second day’s play was called off without a ball being bowled due to overnight rain and wet outfield here at DRIEMS Cricket Stadium.
Umpires Paschim Pathak and Nitin Menon announced the decision after inspecting the ground for the second and last time at 11.30 am. Earlier on the opening day, the match started after lunch due to wet ground condition and play was called off three overs after tea break due to insufficient light, thus restricting the day’s play to only 31 overs.
Put into bat on a grassy pitch, Tamil Nadu struggled against Odisha’s new ball attack and were 66 for two at the close. Test discards Murali Vijay and Subramaniam Badrinath were dismissed for 15 and 11 respectively. When stumps were drawn for the day, other opener Abhinav Mukund and young all-rounder Baba Aparajith were unbeaten on 21 and three respectively.
With two days to go, the match is unlikely to produce a decisive result. In that case, taking first innings lead will now be main goal for both the teams. And if the match ends without both the teams completing their first innings then each team will get one point each.