Summer showers halt IPL tie in Bangalore

Bangalore, April 23 (IANS) Sudden summer showers on a hot Tuesday late afternoon briefly halted the Indian Premier League (IPL) tie between hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Pune Warriors India (PWI) at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here.

Though the match started on schedule at 4 p.m. under gathering clouds and humid conditions, both the umpires (Aleem Dar of Pakistan and Chettithody Shamsuddin of India) stopped play and scores of groundsmen rushed onto the field to cover the green turf after just 1.2 overs had been bowled.

Put to bat after Pune Warriors captain Aaron Finch won the toss and chose to bowl first, Royal Challengers openers Chris Gayle and Tilakaratne Dilshan were at the crease and the second over of the innings was in progress.

Just before the rain gods descended, explosive Gayle whacked Ishwar Pandey to the boundary twice and RCB were at 11 for no loss, with Dilshan at the non-striker end with two runs off three balls.

A hush swept across the stands as about 25,000 uneasy fans waited for the game to resume, while hundreds of cops got drenched standing guard outside the stadium.

Play resumed at 4:40 p.m. after a 30-minute break.

Unlike in the past, the garden city has been witnessing a very hot summer since a month with prolonged dry weather.