Rain washes out first day's play

For the first time this season, the new rules for domestic cricket could come in handy during the Duleep Trophy final. Anand Sachar reports.

For the first time this season, the new rules for domestic cricket could come in handy during the Duleep Trophy final.

HT Image

At least, defending champions East Zone can be expected to make full use of the rule that allows an extra day's play to ensure that they manage a result, which will allow them to retain the trophy.

Like last week, the skies opened up overnight. And the downpour continued till about an hour after the scheduled start of Day 1 of East's game against Central Zone, which rendered the ground unplayable on Sunday.

East skipper Natraj Behera expressed concern over the relentless rain. "It does not look like there will be play tomorrow (Monday) either. We do not want rain to come in the way of our retaining the title," he told HT.

Behera hopes to avail of the additional day to at least earn the first innings lead and avoid sharing the title with Central. "Hopefully, we can make use of the sixth day to force a result." After an inspection at 11.15 am, umpires Vineet Kulkarni and C Shamsuddin abandoned the day's play.