IPL final to be re-run of rain-delayed inaugural?

In what could be a repeat of the opening ceremony, thundershowers may play spoiler for cricket fans on Sunday when Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) lock horns in the Indian Premier League (IPL) final here.

The regional met office on Saturday said there is a possibility of thundershowers in the next few days in West Bengal, including state capital Kolkata, but heat and humidity will shoot up till the monsoon arrives.

"We cannot exactly specify which places will receive thundershowers but there is a possibility in Kolkata in the evening," a Met official said, adding details will be available on Sunday morning.

Districts like Burdwan and Bankura in south Bengal continue to sizzle at 40 degrees Celsius and above. Kolkata is witnessing a sauna-like atmosphere with high temperatures (38 to 39 degrees Celsius) and soaring humidity (around 85 to 90 percent).

While the trend is likely to continue, thundershowers for a couple of hours are expected to provide some respite.

But this might not be good news for the hundreds of cricket fans who are set to turn up at the Eden Gardens on D-Day Sunday and a rerun of the rain-delayed opening may not be welcome.

The IPL inaugural gala, with performances by Bollywood stars Hrithik Roshan, Anushka Sharma and Shahid Kapoor, was delayed by an hour and a half due to heavy rain.