Weather demons hit Under-19 World Cup opener

All the hard work by ground staff, all the fondest hopes of organisers came to next to nothing when the opening game of the ICC Under-19 World Cup was abandoned after just on 20 overs at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, at Lincoln University near Christchurch today.

Rain, the blight of New Zealand's summer this season, caused a delay in the start and had the final say when setting in later in the day.

Sri Lanka and New Zealand were meeting in a game already affected by rain and after 19.5 overs, Sri Lanka, who chose to bat first were 85/2 with Sumalka Perera 37 not out and Jeevan Mendis 13 not out.

New Zealand had bowled with a background accompaniment of light drizzle which increased in tempo until it reached the point in the 20th over that the umpires Muhammed Nanabhay (South Africa) and Tony Cooper (Fiji) could no longer keep players in the field.

They came off the ground, the turf staff put the covers on, and a heavy shower forced the umpires to call for an early lunch. Then the rain continued and varied in intensity.

It was a surprising move by the Sri Lankans to bat first on a pitch expected to provide some spite after having been under covers for so long.

However, it was the Sri Lankans who were slightly on top when the abandonment came. They had come back from losing a wicket in their first over, courtesy of a fine piece of reflex catching.

Point fieldsman Peter Borren was unable to hold a well-struck drive from Upul Tharanga. He grasped the ball only for it to slip from his hand. Fortunately, for him, the ball went up in the air for long enough to allow Stephen Murdoch coming across from gully to get his hands beneath the ball before it hit the grass.

Opener Perera then added 50 runs in 68 balls in partnership with Kanchana Gunawardene before the latter offered a chance to Ross Taylor, fielding at a wide slip held a regulation catch.

Vice-captain Mendis then joined Perera and after playing through some tighter bowling from Borren and Michael Bates, they were starting to open out a little, especially Perera, when the rain forced the teams from the field.

Bates was the pick of the New Zealand attack. His left-arm medium-fast deliveries conceded only 11 runs from his six overs.

The greater worry for the New Zealanders was the concession of 13 wides, 12 of them in the first eight overs.

The fact the first two deliveries of the game went for two leg byes on each occasion meant the ball was slippery from the outset, and the bowlers had trouble with their grip.

New Zealand captain Taylor spoke for all concerned when he admitted the conditions had been frustrating.

The 19.5 overs had allowed his players to get the "cobwebs" out of their system but the bowlers had not been able to get their footing right in the difficult conditions.

"We came right at the end however, and we will have a few targets to work towards for the next game," he said.

Taylor was surprised to be asked to bowl first, as he expected Sri Lanka would bowl after winning the toss. However, the movement that was expected off the pitch had proven deceptive.

The early finish did have one advantage. It would allow the players to go back to their accommodation and watch their favourite team, the CLEAR Black Caps in action in the latest VB Series game against South Africa in Australia.

"We follow them with great interest. We want to emulate them and hope they keep winning. We are setting our own standards so don't feel any pressure from their achievements," he said.

Both teams take two points from the game. New Zealand meets Zimbabwe in its next game on Monday, and Sri Lanka plays Namibia on Tuesday.