COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Holders Australia’s long-awaited World Cup rematch with co-hosts Sri Lanka was washed away by a torrential downpour yesterday, the first in this year’s tournament to fall victim to bad weather.
The Group A match, a replay of the 2007 final, was tantalisingly poised when the skies opened after huge black clouds had hovered overhead. Sri Lanka were 146 for three after 32.5 overs having won the toss.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara (73 not out) and Thilan Samaraweera (34 not out) were sharing an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 71 runs when the players scampered off the field.
Several huge puddles could be seen swiftly forming after the skies opened at just after 1700 local time (1130 GMT) and with the rain not relenting three hours later, officials called off the match.
With no result possible, the teams will be awarded one point each.
“It was shaping up to be a helluva match but here we are watching it monsoon down,” one of the umpires, Ian Gould, said miserably.
Sangakkara shared his sense of letdown.
“The game was really poised at that time, 18 overs to go and we were realistically looking at anything close to 250 or slightly above. It would have been a great game of cricket had it continued,” he told a news conference.
His opposite number Ricky Ponting added: “I am probably disappointed for the crowd more than anything today.
“I believe this ground and this game were sold out pretty much on the day the tickets were on sale. It would have been a terrific World Cup match if it wasn’t washed away.”
The fans will not receive a rupee in compensation. “There won’t be any refund of the tickets because the match was played. If there was not a single ball bowled, then we would have refunded the money,” Suraj Dandeniya, Sri Lanka’s ICC World Cup director, told Reuters.
LONG-AWAITED
The much-anticipated game had looked to be tilted in favour of Australia early on as Tillakaratne Dilshan (4) was caught at slip in Shaun Tait’s first over after a brief battle of wills between the two was won by the Australian paceman.
Sri Lanka were in further trouble when opener Upul Tharanga (6) was brilliantly caught by an air-borne Steve Smith off Brett Lee and Mahela Jayawardene departed for 23 after being run out with the score on 75.
But Sangakkara battled brilliantly to guide his side towards a competitive total with an impressive 73 from 102 balls including seven fours.
Australia, who have won the last three tournaments, have not lost a match in the World Cup since 1999, a run of 32 games.
The deluge brought back memories of the last time the teams met in the World Cup when rain in Bridgetown, Barbados suspended the 2007 final.
On that occasion, Sri Lanka returned to bat in the gathering gloom before losing a match forever remembered for its false ending as the umpires halted play in the twilight before returning to the middle for the game’s last rites after Australia had started their team’s celebrations prematurely.
SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka innings
U. Tharanga c Smith b Lee 6
T. Dilshan c White b Tait 4
K. Sangakkara not out 73
M. Jayawardene run out (Smith) 23
T. Samaraweera not out 34
Extras (lb-1 w-5) 6
Total (for three wickets; 32.5 overs) 146
Did not bat: C. Silva, A. Mathews, H. Herath, S. Malinga, M. Muralitharan, A. Mendis.
Fall of wickets: 1-6 2-31 3-75
Bowling: Lee 5-0-27-1 (2w), Tait 5-0-23-1, Watson 7-0-29-0, Johnson 4-0-15-0 (2w), Krejza 7.5-0-34-0 (1w), Smith 4-0-17-0
Australia team: S. Watson, B. Haddin, R. Ponting, M. Clarke, D. Hussey, C. White, S. Smith, M. Johnson, J. Krejza, B. Lee, S. Tait. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. No result
