Scotland will not mind the equal sharing of two points with India after their Group D fixture was called off on Wednesday night. Ryan Watson's side finished their league engagements with one point, the same as India, who now run into Pakistan on Thursday night.
By virtue of their 51-run win on Tuesday, Pakistan have already secured qualification to the next stage. Wednesday's wash-out has kept interest as regards the second qualifier alive. Should India beat Pakistan, they will progress to the Super Eights. Should the game end in another no-result -- which is most certainly not in the realms of the impossible, given the forecast for another wet evening on the morrow -- India will still make it to the next round. India can advance even if they lost to Pakistan, provided they ensure a nett run rate which is better than Scotland's — 2.550.
So much for what lies ahead. What Wednesday's rains have done is deprive India of a great opportunity to play themselves into the tournament, and find their feet in a version they aren't too familiar with. Scotland can't be considered punching bags, but all other things being equal, India ought to have won this game, and with a degree of comfort. Now, assuming that the predicted rains stay away, there will be an added tenseness to Thursday's proceedings. India will be aware that three poor hours of cricket could result in elimination at the first possible instance from a World Cup for the second time in five months, and that is a sword no side will enjoy dangling over its head.
There was little indication of a non-event when the day dawned bright and cloudless. As morning gave way to afternoon, the clouds gathered in force, though they were neither low enough nor angry enough to suggest anything other than a humid, uncomfortable evening.
An hour and a half before the scheduled toss at 5.30 pm local time, the first drops of precipitation wended their way down.Gradually, the rain began to come down increasingly heavily for three-quarters of an hour, before relenting enough for the umpires to announce a 6.15 pm start.
Even as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Watson walked out for the toss, the skies opened up again and forced the covers to be brought on all over again. After a further half-hour, the toss was actually carried out and Watson chose to field first. That was about the only action for the night, because even before the teams could complete their warming-up sessions, the rains came down, never to stop again. The final flourish that lasted the better part of an hour as it came down in buckets left Steve Davis and Simon Taufel with no option but to end the non-existent suspense, and officially call off play at 8.30 pm, well before the cut-off time of 9.10 pm.