Wet outfield wrecks Karnataka again

Bengaluru: Karnataka's rotten luck with inclement weather and its destructive side-effects continued unabated for a third game in succession as the second day's play of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C game against Bihar in Patna was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet outfield.

Forced to share a point each against Madhya Pradesh and Kerala in their opening two encounters because of rain and wet outfield, Karnataka thought the weather gods finally showed some mercy on them at Moin-ul-Haq Stadium when they bowled out Bihar for a paltry 143 and reached 16/0 on Saturday.

They were looking to build on the advantage on Sunday but a strong spell of rain early morning spelt doom to their hopes. Owing to the 'poor quality' of the covers, rain water had seeped onto the main square and despite the sun shining brightly from 9:30 am and the best efforts of the ground staff, no play was possible.

Umpires Nitin Pandit and Tony Ematty conducted several inspections throughout the day but with the wet patches not drying, they felt it would be unsafe for play and decided to call off action around tea time. 

Karnataka coach Yere Goud blamed the covers for no-play. "I think it rained between 3-6 am. From the time we reached the ground, there was no rain and the sun was out. If the covers were good or if they had covered the square properly, play would have happened," he told DH.

"The ground staff tried their best to dry it but the damage was already done. If there's no further rain, we should get a full day's play on Monday. We are hoping to get 98 overs per day over the next two days. We plan to bat aggressively and try and get a result."

Elite Group C brief scores: At Patna: Bihar: 143 all out vs Karnataka: 16/0 in 3 overs. No play on Day 2 due to wet outfield.

At Kolkata: Kerala: 51/4 in 15.1 overs (Ishan Porel 3-18) vs Bengal.

At Indore: Madhya Pradesh (O/n: 233/4): 308 all out in 115 overs (Himanshu Mantri 97, Shubham Sharma 44, Subhranshu Senapati 36, Harpreet Singh 48; Aman Kumar 2-41, Harshal Patel 2-60, Jayant Yadav 5-84) vs Haryana: 185/3 in 60 overs (Lakshay Dalal 60 n.o., Himanshu Rana 90, Dheeru Singh 30 n.o.; Avesh Khan 2-25).

At Mullanpur: Punjab: 210 all out vs Uttar Pradesh (O/n: 8/0): 293/3 in 81 overs (Madhav Kaushik 128, Priyam Garg 27, Nitish Rana 66, Rinku Singh 46 n.o.; Gurnoor Brar 2-66).