Even after rescheduling, UP tie gets abandoned
LUCKNOW : Even the reworking the schedule of Group B for the rain-affected Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20 didn’t make a difference for the second consecutive day on Sunday as the tie between former champions Uttar Pradesh and Haryana at Vadodara was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to a heavy rain.
A heavy rain continued to lash the Gujarati city and the conditions at the Railway Ground remained unplayable on Sunday. “Weather is still not good, and don’t know when the things would improve,” an official of UP team said on Sunday.
On Wednesday last, Uttar Pradesh, who had shared the trophy with Tamil Nadu in 2004-05, had to split points with hosts Baroda when even the 22-over a side match couldn’t be completed. On the following day, it was same old story of rain as it affected the game between UP and Maharashtra and the two had to split points.
But with all the matches in Group B at Vadodara being affected with rain, the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Saturday rescheduled all the matches. Sunday’s was UP’s first match, and now they play their next match against Maharashtra on Tuesday.
UP will now take on Baroda a fresh on October 7, followed by a match against Delhi on October 8, vs Punjab on October 12, vs Vidarbha on October 14 before playing their last match of the league against Odisha on October 16.
As per the ESPNcricinfo reports, all three matches in the new schedule, effective from Saturday, for Group B in Vadodara were abandoned without a ball being bowled, meaning that not a single game has produced a result in Vadodara so far.
There was no play on September 24 and 26 in Vadodara and on September 25 all three matches had to be abandoned midway. Those nine games are part of the new schedule, though with the weather continuing to be bleak in Vadodara, getting all of them completed may yet prove to be a challenge.
As for the Plate Group, it is understood that any further games that get abandoned won’t be rescheduled as there are no reserve days in this group.
UP WILL NOW TAKE ON BARODA A FRESH ON OCTOBER 7, FOLLOWED BY A MATCH AGAINST DELHI ON OCTOBER 8, VS PUNJAB ON OCTOBER 12, VS VIDARBHA ON OCTOBER 14 BEFORE PLAYING THEIR LAST MATCH OF THE LEAGUE AGAINST ODISHA ON OCTOBER 16