Play deferred till 1230 after overnight rain

Chittagong, May 22 (UNI) Rain continued to play spoilsport as the final days' play between India and Bangladesh has been deferred till 1230 local time when the umpires are slated to carry out the inspection of the ground.

Umpires Billy Doctrove along with Darrell Hair undertook an inspection of the ground at 1100 hrs local time and advised the ground curator Belal to take care of certain specific sections of the ground which remained a matter of concern.

After the first inspection, Doctrove annonced that they will carry out another inspection at 1230 local time and then a decision on the commencement of the game will be reached.

''We will have to wait and see how much the sun and wind help us. The groundsmen have done a tremendous job and I complement them for their efforts,'' he said.

The first Test has been badly affected by rain that has taken its toll on 16 hours of game from day one. The match otherwise looked interestingly poised with India at 44 for two in their second innings after taking a 149 runs first innings lead.

Three spells of heavy rain last night has left the ground in absolute mess with mud puddles.

The midwicket region on either side of the ground has been badly affected. While the grounds staff have been continuously using super soppers and rug rollers to improve the ground conditions, start of play seemed unlikely till 1330 hours local time.

UNI