Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, 1st T20I at Kandy, , Nov 19 2013 - Ball by Ball Commentary

8.47pm I'm afraid that is that foks. Thank you for your patience, humour and wonderful insight over these past two hours or so. Hope I was able to carry you through the ignominy of having to wait it out. With the first T20 abandoned, the second and last T20 on November 21 will be the series decider, so all the more pressure on both sides to end this tour on a high. Till then, this is Rohan Sharma, hoping the weather is a little better over at your end.

8.45pm Well, unfortunately, we won't be having a game today as our roving reporter has confirmed that the 1st T20 in Pallekele between Sri Lanka and New Zealand has been called off due to inclement weather

8.37pm Roshan Abeysinghe doesn't seem convinced that a game will be on tonight. Getting within half an hour now of this becoming five-overs-a-side, if that.

Prashanth: "Jacob Oram" Sandy: "Ian Butler ???" soumitra: "tg southee"

Mode: "Agreed, if any weather related websites aren't functioning, I know where to go next! Rain-o-meter, and everything"

Manzoor: "The captain "Mills"" mohit goyal: "Nathan Mcculluum"

8.22pm And the latest from our roving reporter is that the Pallekele Rain-o-Meter has now moved from moderate to heavy. Time to do your best rendition of the anti-rain dance, if such exists...

thivi: "Cricinfo from being a site that provides update on cricket scores has become a site that provides weather updates!"

Daniel Alexander : "Roshan Abeysinghe tweets - The rain has reduced though its still drizzling, Its critical that it stops before 9 if we are to have at least a 5 over side game."

ismath: "j oram" Sandeep: "One and Only Vettori......"

parti: "it is Martin i guess" kotesh: "jame franklin"

8.15pm Ready for another one? Which New Zealand bowler has the best average when playing in Asia in T20Is? Minimum of five wickets taken

8.07pm Time for the answer folks: It is indeed Jesse Ryder, who has quite a decent average at 35.66. Who else would love to see the big guy have a bat?

Praveen_1812: "Jesse 'The Wrestling Champ' Ryder?"

Prashanth: "Martin Guptill i guess....." Ali: "brendon mcculam"

8.00pm So, it is official, the cut-off time for this match is 10.10pm They will start cutting overs after 8.00pm

shivam: "nathan astle" jono: "chris martin" Srinivas: "Criag McMillan"

Fazil Firdous: "Brendon MCcullum" Vishnu: "Kane Williamson!"

krrish: "yo kiwis welcome to the land of posiedon"

7.50pm And this brings us to our third installment of trivia: "Which New Zealand batsman has the highest average against Sri Lanka in T20Is, with at least three innings played?"

7.45pm Time to reveal the answer after some correct (and not so correct) responses. The answer is indeed Scott Styris, who had an economy rate of 5.33. As for the weather, well, not much has changed I'm afraid. Perhaps some views from those who are at the ground or in Pallekele would be in order?

X: "All these old names make me sentimental. Jayasuriya and now Styris!"

Zeeshan Mahmud: "The man who said: "Cricket is a mental game." Statsguru is your friend. :)"

Nafees: "Nathan Mcculum" Vish: "James Franklin!"

uzair yaseen: "i think kyle mills" manoj: "It's daniel vettorI"

Daniel Alexander : "Jeetan Patel" Rifqi: "The notorious Danny Morrison..."

Richard Mutch: "Gavin Larsen" Fazil: "Shane bond?" Sameera: "Vettori"

Manoj: "It has to be Daniel Luca Vettori" vinay mudrady: "kyle mills"

tiron: "dareel tuffy" Daniel Alexander : "Tim Southee"

7.30pm I'm afraid we don't yet have good news. It's still raining quite hard and no news from the broadcasters.

7.25pm Well, I think now is as good as a time, to provide a second trivia question for you. Let's see if you can get this one. Which New Zealand bowler has the lowest economy rate against Sri Lanka, with at least five wickets taken?

Treser: "My superhero cricket team: Flash, Superman, Vision (can make things infinitely light or heavy), Dr Strange, Thor, The Hulk, Mr Fantastic (for wicket keeping), Night Crawler (can teleport), Green Lantern, Prof C. Xavier (to read and change the opponent's strategy) and Jean Grey (just in case they were losing she could destroy the ground) :))"

Swapnil R: "Am I compulsorily supposed to pick someone from the Avengers - how bout someone from the Justice League instead? I know Bruce Wayne's postal address! :D"

Rayner: "Could I branch off a bit and have Storm form the Xmen? She could then do away with this rain."

vats: "Definitely Iron Man" David: "Without a doubt Natasha Romanoff"

Ziad: "Its Thor" Nila: "Spare a thought for angry man, Hulk"

Shanmukh: "My love for cricket would make me choose Iron Man (Tony Stark)… as he would entertain me during such rain-interrupted matches!"

tharindu: "definitely HULK" Prashanth: "Thor for sure"

7.17pm Time for the answer from the query regarding Sri Lanka's highest strike rate against New Zealand. I will let Nash take it away: "Its the SL chief selector, Sanath Jayasuriya - SR 151.89"

7.12pm With all this talk of thunder, lightning, Odin, a random thought has popped in my head. Out of all the Avengers (band of superheroes in case you were living under a rock for the last few years), who would you pick to fight for your life?

Pajjy: "Ah wrong way round.... Kulasekera?" sai: "Dilshan"

Mafaz Mohideen: "By Odin's beard! Thor The Dark World was fantastic! I wonder which team Thor would play cricket for..."

Kishore: "Dilshan" Daniel Alexander : "Mahela Jayawardene"

hassan.cricket: "i think NLTC parera...."

7.05pm How about a round of statistical trivia to brighten up things? Who has the highest strike rate for Sri Lanka against New Zealand, with a minimum of 100 runs scored?

7.00pm Roshan Abeysinghe, who is one of the commentators/presenters at the match, says that a cut-off for even a five-over match would be at 10.05pm. Nothing official yet, but just thought I would put this out there for you. According to Andrew the skies over the ground have also been lit up by some lightning and thunder, probably from Odin who must have been rather disappointed with the latest Thor flick.

6.57pm Just so it is clear, there is no information on when the toss will take place till the rain stops and it can be determined that play will go forth

6.53pm Even more fantastic news! Fernando has updated the Pallekele Rain-o-Meter (trademarked) from downpour to deluge. We could be in for a long night folks.

Priyath: "it's been raining not only cats and dogs but cows, horses, sheep, and goats in and around kandy all day long.."

6.50pm The rain is still coming down, and the Sri Lankan players are all huddled in the dressing room on the balcony willing the gods to be kind. New Zealand, on the other hand, look rather downcast. But the crowd is in good spirits, as you would expect in Sri Lanka, rain or shine

pritish sahu: "Sri Lanka should rename the series with New Zealand as "Duckworth Lewis series"."

Omila: "I live near Pallekale, and it's an on and off rain throughout the evening. I don't think that we can get a full game here.

Saurabh U: "I guess Poseidon is busy with someone in Sri Lanka"

AKJB Perara: "I stay some 2 KM away from the ground...Its been raining from morning...and it was raining in the evening for the past 2 days...i see 12-13 over match with the side batting first and then the match being called off as it rained after 8 for the past 2 days"

samantha: "i am not at the ground but i stay in pallekele...believe me or not, as hard as it rains that much fastly it ends!!my gut instinct is if the rain stops..thats it we will not have it again"

6.40pm I'll leave it to Fernando to tell you what it is like now in Pallekele: "I think we can upgrade this from steady rain to downpour"

6.37pm How about a nice little read to tide you over as we play the waiting game against Mother Nature. Here's a lovely piece, from Andrew Fernando, about what Graeme Ford, the outgoing Sri Lanka coach, thinks about his team's chances at the World T20 next year.

6.33pm And just as I provide you with that little tidbit, it seems the rain gods have not yet been appeased as the heavens open up again to bring about a barrage of heavy rain

M.Aqib: "I think Nz will win today..bcoz this Nz team is totally t20 specialist team..Best of luck for both teams

sampath: "hopeless..we are outside of the ground in side a vehicle hoping for some cricket today.but stil drizzling here.."

6.30pm Latest update from our man is that the onslaught has reduced to a drizzle, although it is yet to be determined as to what constitutes a 'drizzle' in Sri Lanka? Anyone else at the ground, or in Pallekele, who can provide some more news as to what is going on?

Kishore: "Even country should have an option for an indoor stadium, so that when it rains they can play under the rood."

tarun: "Gear Up For Six-Six Over Match. MayBe??"

Charak: "Guy's Just relaxed and dont rush for game as this is going to be a long long night again ! Hide n seek game in our hands again !"

6.25pm So, what is there to look out for in the first of this two-match rubber? Both teams look to go in this with an eye on the World T20 2014 next year in March, as conditions will be somewhat similar to conditions over there in Bangladesh. This will also be a test of Dinesh Chandimal's aptitude as a T20 leader. For more info on the above, check out the preview of today's match.

Akil Masoon: "any possibilty of starting on time today.or this is going to be a duckworth lewis game today"

6.20pm Fernando just tweeted this picture. Gives you an idea of what we have on our hands as we gear up for tonight.

6.17pm Our man at the ground, Andrew Fernando, has been writing in with updates. Apparently it was pelting down heavily, but has reduced somewhat, for Pallekele standards (in his own words). We are hopeful of a start soon, but the officials will need to assess the state of the pitch before making a decision.

6.15pm Hello and welcome to a rather wet Pallekele for the 1st Twenty20 between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, which was originally set to kick off at 7.00pm local time.