Sri Lanka vs India, 2nd ODI at Colombo, , Aug 20 2006 - Ball by Ball Commentary

20:00 local time - And now then, after hours of speculation, an announcement on the fate of this series is now out. The rains have so far permitted only 22 balls of cricket in the last week, and the met department has forecast similar rains for the coming days as well. The Sri Lankan Cricket Board, considering all this, proposed to the Board of Control for Cricket in India that they call off this 3-match series for now, and postpone it to a later date - either before the World Cup or after the World Cup. The BCCI agreed to the SLC's suggestion, and as a result, this 3-match series has been called off.

Agencies quoted Sri Lanka Cricket Media Manager Samantha Algama saying 'The series is off. There was no point going on with the series because the weather was not improving. The Indians will return home on Monday.'

So that's it from all of us at Cricinfo. We look forward to your company again.

13:45 local time - And inevitably the weather gods have the final say - someone upstairs is having some serious fun. With the sun peeping out the covers were removed and the ground was left to dry but the conditions changed dramatically in just a few minutes and the ground was hit by another passing shower killing all hopes of a late start. Officially play has been abandoned for the day and that brings another frustrating day to a dreadful end. We will be back tomorrow at 10:00 am local time, hopefully not with more rain updates but with some real action.

13:15 local time - We have been informed that the umpires have decided to conduct a final inspection at 15:00 local time.

12:50 local time - Sure enough the sun is back, but for how long is the big question - there has been no official word yet on the time frame for the next inspection. Sinhalese Sports Club has one of the best drainage systems in the country but the continuous pounding has taken its toll on the infrastructure and the groundsmen. The outfield is saturated and with the sun playing hide-and-seek the chances of the ground drying up comes down drastically with each passing shower.

12:40 local time It was bright and sunny for most part but just when the umpires were getting ready for the inspection, the ground was hit by a passing shower, not heavy but just enough for the covers to be pulled back in. The skies are overcast and as of now the chances of the match getting underway today looks bleak. The umpires have postponed their inspection. We will keep you posted as things move along.

9:30 local time Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the second ODI between Sri Lanka and India. I am afraid it's the same old story. It rained heavily yesterday night and at the moment the outfield is water logged. The good news is that it's not raining at the moment. The groundstaff are in the process of removing the covers and working on draining the water from the outfield. There are few darks clouds around but nothing threatening. The umpires have decided to come back and have a look at 12:30 local time, watch this space for updates.