Rain washes out fifth one-dayer
Inevitable happened as the ill-fated fifth ODI between India and Australia here at Barabati Stadium was on Saturday abandoned without a ball being bowled due to soggy outfield, caused by incessant rains for the past five days. It was host Odisha Cricket Association secretary Asirbad Behera, who made the official announcement two hours before the scheduled start.
“Pitch is fit for play, but outfield is still wet and not fit. We knew it from yesterday but as per the BCCI guidelines we had to wait for the inspection of the umpires and the match referee today. Such is the condition that it would require about four days of sunshine to make it match ready,’’ he said. Behera also announced that the three-day practice match between West Indies and Uttar Pradesh, scheduled to be held at Barabati from October 31 to November 2, has been shifted to Kolkata.
The abandonment was a sad end to the valiant efforts OCA made to dry up the ground. It also disheartened around 40,000 fans, who had bought tickets for the match.
The Aussies are leading the seven-match series 2-1. It would now be a tough task for India captain MS Dhoni and his team-mates to win the last two games at Nagpur and Bengaluru and clinch the series. The Nagpur ODI will be held on October 30.