Rain threatens triangular series final

Organisers were left banking on the weather to spare Saturday's final after deciding against altering the schedule in a bid to beat the rain.

Organisers were left banking on the Dutch weather to spare Saturday's final of the triangular cricket tournament after deciding against altering the fixture schedule in a bid to beat the rain that has marred this warm-up event for next month's ICC Champions Trophy in England.

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Wednesday's final group match between world champions Australia and Pakistan at the VRA Ground, in Amstelveen, just outside Amsterdam, where all matches in the competition are being played, was washed out without a ball being bowled some 90 minutes before the scheduled 0830 GMT start.

The result ended India's lingering hopes of qualifying for Saturday's final which will instead feature Australia and Pakistan.

Beaten by Pakistan by 66 runs in last Saturday's rain-affected tournament opener, India had seen their second match, against Australia on Monday, washed out at the half-way stage.

However, after Wednesday's no-result, a meeting then took place between organisers and representatives of all three teams at an Amsterdam hotel.

The possibility of either replaying or rescheduling matches was discussed amidst speculation that the event broadcaster, who paid a reported six million dollars for the rights, was pressing for more cricket.

"The long meeting took place was because they wanted more cricket. But for a variety of reasons the status quo will remain the status quo," Nelissen told reporters after discussions ended.

"Of course, there is the weather. The various forecasts are not giving us too much confidence. The head groundsman has serious doubts about getting more cricket at the ground.

"You've all seen that the ground can have some rain but it just couldn't have that much rain. So basically he (the groundsman) is saying give me time to give the ground the cricket it deserves and that is the final.