Weather has the final say in B'luru

Second wettest Test on Indian soil ends in draw

The second wettest Test on the Indian soil, and fifth overall, between India and South Africa expectedly ended in a draw after play was called off without a ball being bowled for the fourth successive day.

This is the ninth shortest non-abandoned match in the history of Test cricket, with only 486 balls of play possible. India were also involved in the third shortest Test against Sri Lanka in Kandy in 1993 when only 72 balls could be bowled in the entire match as rain played havoc in what was Kapil Dev’s 125th Test. Also, this is the first time that four full days in a row of a Test have been lost to elements in India.

Having dictated the course of the game on the opening day, the only day when play was possible, India were left a frustrated lot as a golden opportunity to build an unassailable 2-0 lead went down the drain. On Wednesday’s final day here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, umpires called it off immediately after the second inspection at 11.30 am as powdery drizzle and wet patches continued to prove stumbling blocks.

For the record, India were 80 without loss in reply to South Africa’s 214 all out and thus had more reasons to feel aggrieved than the South Africans. India lead the four-Test series 1-0 courtesy their 108-run win in the opening Test in Mohali.

“It was very disappointing; the second and third day especially were very frustrating because we had a very good first day,” said Virat Kohli in his post-match comments.

“It is the toughest task to set up a Test match and then you have to win the important moments later on. So we were on course to do that, to get control of the important moments of the game and capitalise. We had a good chance of putting South Africa under more pressure but as I said the weather turned out to be in such a way that we had no control over it for the course of the next four days. It is always annoying for any side, even if you have the momentum or not, to come to the ground and have no play. The covers come off and the rain falls again and I think that was something that was disappointing,” he remarked.

Notwithstanding the amount of play left in the game, it’s fair to admit that South Africa escaped from going 0-2 down in the series. Given how they had capitulated in Mohali and in the first innings here, the Indian skipper wasn’t off the mark when he felt they could have forced a result if they had got at least two more days of play.

“We wanted to go out there and play, whatever time we could get in the game. Honestly speaking, if you say a day and half is left in the Test match, it would have been unrealistic that we could even have wished for a result but we were positive as in if we get fourth and fifth day, we could try and put more pressure on the South African team. But it turned out to be that we didn’t have any more play after the first day which was out of our control but it was indeed very disappointing especially after the kind of start on day one,” he reasoned.

Having seen his team suffer three successive collapses, South African skipper Hashim Amla felt there was no need for over analysing their batting performance. “We have had a lot of time to reflect but you don't 'over-reflect',” he stressed.

“It's pretty simple. We try and be as positive as possible. Sometimes it's the lack of turn that did us in. You don't overdo it. Just try and keep the game as simple as possible. Three innings that haven't gone to our plan...Hopefully in the Nagpur Test we will come good. We have talked about it, but we can't 'over-talk' about something and complicate it further,” he analysed.