KARACHI, September 27: The opening ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the National Stadium Karachi has been called off.
The decision was taken due to the heavy rain that lashed the city on Friday. As a result, the stadium outfield had become waterlogged.
It was initially reported that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) would try its best to stage the match even if it had to cut down on a few overs.
However, the state of the pitch made it impossible for the ground staff to give match officials their go-ahead.
The stadium had puddles at a variety of places, whereas the area near the boundary line was almost completely submerged.
At one point, the ground staff had attempted to work towards getting the ground ready for a 20-overs-a-side match. However, continuous downpour made sure that their plan did not come to fruition.
It is the first instance that an ODI match has been abandoned at the National Stadium due to rain without a ball being bowled.
The last time an ODI had been abandoned in Karachi, it was 1988 when the authorities had to call of the clash between Pakistan and Australia due to crowd unrest.
Showers started at around 1:20pm local time turned into heavy rainfall with thunderstorm later in the day.
The toss was originally scheduled to be held at 2:30pm local time with the first ball being scheduled to be bowled at 3pm.
The second ODI between the two teams is scheduled to be played on Sunday at the same venue.-Agencies
