Finance
Persistent rain ended day one of the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at The Gabba on Saturday. Before rain stopped play, Australia had reached 28/0 in 13.2 overs, with Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney undefeated on 19 and 4, respectively.
“Play has been stopped today due to rain. Play will resume tomorrow and all following days at 09:50 am local time with minimum 98 overs to be bowled,” said the BCCI in an official update. Cricket Australia (CA) said they will initiate a full refund of tickets for Saturday’s play as less than 15 overs were bowled, with fans exiting the venue since the longish rain break began.
CA’s policy says single day ticket holders are entitled to a full refund if less than fifteen (15) overs are completed and no result is recorded for the match on the day. In the run-up to the game, weather forecasts had predicted that rain would play spoilsport on opening day of the match.
It eventually came out to be true, as Brisbane has received 66.2mm of rain since 9am local time on Saturday. Talking about Sunday’s weather forecast, The Bureau of Meteorology said chance of rain is 50%.
“Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. Winds south to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h tending east to southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the evening.” It’s forecast for Monday to Wednesday, though, stands at high chance of showers, and is subject to change.
With gloomy clouds gathering, India decided to bowl first, with Ravindra Jadeja and Akash Deep replacing Ravichandran Ashwin and Harshit Rana, respectively. As the dull daylight faded and a sparse crowd in fancy dress took its place, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj spent time looking for the ideal lines and lengths to bowl on a field with little seam movement.
Khawaja took advantage of it when Siraj, who was booed by the Brisbane fans, produced a poor short ball and was easily pushed through mid-wicket for four runs. The first rain interruption of the session occurred in 5.3 overs, forcing players to leave the field for 30 minutes.
Following the interval, India’s bowlers attempted to shake things up by bowling fuller, with Siraj and Akash Deep causing some movement. However, Khawaja and McSweeney held their ground, with the former effortlessly flicking Bumrah for four and heaving Siraj over square leg, before rain forced an early lunch and eventually triumphed over cricket to win the day.
Brief Scores: Australia 28/0 in 13.2 overs (Usman Khawaja 19 not out, Nathan McSweeney 4 not out) against India
Source: IANS
