2 lakh litres of water pumped out of KSCA ground in SRH-KKR IPL Eliminator

Bengaluru, May 18: About 2 lakh litres of water was pumped out of the ground by the state-of-the-art SubAir system at M Chinnaswamy Stadium last night (May 18) and IPL 2017 Eliminator went ahead despite over 3 hours of rainfall.

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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 7 wickets via the Duckworth/Lewis method to progress to Qualifier 2. The match had started at 8 PM IST on May 17 (Wednesday) but finished at 1.27 AM Thursday (May 18). (Gambhir thanks KSCA)

Thanks to Karnataka State Cricket Association's (KSCA) SubAir drainage system, match was completed. KKR's run chase began at 12.55 AM with a revised target of 48 from 6 overs after SRH scored 128/7 in 20 overs.

"Continuous heavy rains lasted for more than 3 hours in total and it was threatening the match could have been a washout. The state-of-the-art SubAir system at M Chinnaswamy Stadium was on the minute it started raining, continuously evacuating water from the playing surface," KSCA's spokesperson Vinay Mruthyunjaya said today.

"The system kept the outfield in playable conditions throughout, preventing puddling of water anywhere on the surface. As a result of which there was no scope for water stagnation anywhere in the outfield when the SubAir system is functioning.

"Nearly 2 lakh litres of water was evacuated from the field last night. The outfield was in playable condition exactly 15-20 minutes after rain stopped," he added.

Vinay further stated, "The events of last night were observed by all stake holders including well known personalities, who have stated that it would be fantastic for world cricket if this technology is adopted by every stadium in the world. Several viewers claimed that the field was as good as new, bereft of the symptoms generally associated with a wet outfield."

Big thanks to KSCA for revamping their drainage system n flushing @KKRiders out of troubled waters...well literally. @ipl @BCCI

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 18, 2017

After the match, KKR captain Gautam Gambhir thanked KSCA for revamping their drainage system. He tweeted, "Big thanks to KSCA for revamping their drainage system n flushing @KKRiders out of troubled waters...well literally. @ipl @BCCI."

KKR will be back in action at the same ground tomorrow (May 19) to face Mumbai Indians (MI). The winner goes to the final to play Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) on May 21 in Hyderabad.

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