Lucknow: The start of the first One-day International (ODI) match between India and South Africa at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium has been further delayed by heavy rain despite the starting time being pushed back by half an hour earlier.
"Rain has gotten heavier here in Lucknow and the toss has been delayed. We will be back with further updates shortly," said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in its latest update on Twitter. Earlier, because of heavy rains that lashed the capital city of Uttar Pradesh overnight, the start time of the match was pushed by 30 minutes, based on an early inspection of the ground done by the umpires.
The toss for the Day/Night match which was scheduled to be held at 1 pm will now be held at 1:30 pm. The play will begin at 2:00 pm, the BCCI had said in a tweet. As per the weather sites, heavy rain has been predicted for the whole day in Lucknow with a 100% chance of precipitation.
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The teams had earlier figured in a three-match T20 series that India won 2-1, triumphing in the first two matches at Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati. South Africa won the third match played in Indore. In India's ODI squad, only travelling reserves for the Men's T20 World Cup like Ravi Bishnoi, Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar will take part in the three-match series as the main squad left for Perth, Australia early on Thursday.
After the first ODI in Lucknow, the teams will move to Ranchi for the second match on October 9 and end the proceedings in New Delhi with the third match on October 11. The series is a part of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League, which will determine the teams who will be eligible for direct qualification in the 2023 ODI World Cup to be hosted by India next year.
India don't have much to worry about regarding the Super League points as they have automatically qualified for participation in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup next year in the country on the account of being the tournament hosts. South Africa are at number eleven in the standings, with 49 points from 13 matches.
IANS
