The one-day cricket match between India 'A' and South Africa 'A', the first of the three matches in the series, scheduled at Motera in Ahmedabad, on Wednesday was abandoned due to a soggy outfield caused by heavy rain during the past few days.
The match was scheduled to begin at 0900 hrs. The umpires inspected the ground at 1030 hrs and, as as chances of the ground conditions improving were remote, called-off the play.
The other two matches of the one-day series between the two teams are scheduled at Vadodara (September 28) and Rajkot (September 30).
Umpire A V Jayaprakash, after inspecting the ground with his colleague, told media persons that the outfield was very soggy.
"The one-day has been called-off because we think there was very little chance of the conditions improving, Jayaprakash said.
Overcast conditions and intermittent rain during the past five days had put a question mark over the chances of the match being held.
At least 70 labourers, mostly women and children, were employed by the Gujarat Cricket Association to drain the water from the playing arena. Even a super-sopper was also used to dry the outfield.
Dhiraj Parsana, the stadium curator, said, "We tried our best to ensure that the match was played."
Teams:
India A: Mohammed Kaif (capt), Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwari, S Badrinath, S Anirrudh, Yo Mahesh, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Arjun Yadav, Amit Mishra, Cheteshwar Pujara and Abhishek Nayar.
South Africa A: Yusuf Abdullah (capt), Morne Van Wyk, Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, Thaime Tsolekile, R Peterson, Alviro Peterson, Werner Coetzee, Friedel De Wet, Boeta Dippenaar, Charl Langeveldt, Justin Ontong, Johan Van Der Wath.
