Tamil Nadu’s rain wrecked tour of Sri Lanka finally got underway at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo today. The South Indian team, who have spent most of the week seeking refuge from the monsoon showers in their hotel rooms and the local indoor nets, played their first game against the Colombo Distict Cricket Association today.
Unfortunately only one innings was possible before the rain returned in the afternoon and the game had to be abandoned. Tamil Nadu had looked set to start the tour with a win in this 31 over match. Having won the toss and elected to field first, they bowled out Colombo DCA for a modest 113 in 30 overs. In reply they were 5-0 from one over, before drizzle forced the players off the field for the last time.
With a damp pitch and a sodden outfield, the Sri Lankan batsmen found run scoring difficult. Hashan Tillakaratne (40), the captain of the side, led from the front with a mature and organised 40 runs from 58 bals, which included plenty of singles and twos, but only one boundary. Only two other batsmen reached double figures: Chinthaka Jayasinghe with 15 and Hemantha Boteju with an unbeaten 16 runs.
These South Indian seamers would not normally strike fear into many international batsmen, but in overcast conditions and with moisture in the wicket, they moved the ball off the pitch and in the air, and quickly dealt with the Sri Lankan top order.
Jehan Mubarak (2) and Ian Daniels (8), two of the heroes from the recent U19 tour of England, were both caught at the wicket off S. Mahesh, who swung the ball both ways and troubled all the batsmen in his six over spell. His opening partner, former international T. Kumaran, trapped Lanka de Silva (0) LBW. T.M. Dilshan (0) was then brilliantly run out by Sathish to leave Sri Lanka on 18 for 4 in the eighth over.
Hashan Tillakaratne rescued the innings in partnership with Jayasinghe (15), Puspakumara (8) and Boteju (16), but was never able to fully wrestle the initiative back from Tamil Nadu. In part this was due to a fine seven over spell of off-spin by the Tamil Nadu captain, Anish Kapoor, who bowled accurately to a tightly set field.
The final score of 113, whilst being modest, could well have made for an interesting run chase. With the outfield being so muddy, the infield was difficult to pierce and boundary hard to reach.
Both teams will try to play tomorrow at the SSC after the itinerary has been changed for the umpteenth time. On Tuesday they will rest, before starting the four-day Gopalan trophy on Wednesday. One suspects though, that this years reincarnation of the Gopalan Trophy will be remembered not for the cricket, but for the torrential rain.
© CricInfo
| Teams | India, Sri Lanka. |
| Tours | Tamil Nadu in Sri Lanka |
| Grounds | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo |
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