Incessant rain calls off Pakistan v Sri Lanka first One Day International

INcessant rain calls off the cricket match (Twitter)

By Nasir Aijaz
AsiaN Representative

Islamabad: The opening One Day International (ODI) between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the National Stadium Karachi has been called off.

The decision was taken due to the heavy rain that lashed the capital city of Sindh province on Friday. As a result, the stadium outfield had become flooded.

It was initially reported that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) would try its best to stage the match even if it had to cut down on a few overs.

However, the state of the pitch made it impossible for the ground staff to give match officials their go-ahead.

It was the first instance that a match has been abandoned at the National Stadium due to rain.

Showers started at around 1:20pm local time turned into heavy rainfall with thunderstorm later in the day.

The toss was originally scheduled at 2:30pm local time with the first ball being scheduled to be bowled at 3pm.

Rainwater had accumulated in the outfield, which had indicated unlikelihood of an early start of the match.

“There is rainwater accumulated and rain is still going on. Toss time will be decided once the rain stops and outfield is cleared with the stadium being handed over to the match officials,” the PCB official said.