SL VS ENG - 1st ODI, England tour of Sri Lanka, 2018

Well, such a shame that we had more updates on weather than cricket. The number of timestamps tell you a story. The last ball was bowled four and half hours back. The covers were brought on few minutes before it started to pelt down heavily. The ground staff did remove the covers once the rain stopped, but few areas were too damp and were deemed unfit by the umpires. So, there are four more ODIs left, with two of them (second and fifth) having reserve days. Let's hope that the weather doesn't play spoilsport in the remaining fixtures. Until next time, it's goodbye from all of us down here.

20:18 Local Time, 14:48 GMT, 20:18 IST: The captains shake hands and the first ODI between Sri Lanka and England has been called off. The groundsmen tried their best, but alas, all their efforts have gone in vain.

20:15 Local Time, 14:45 GMT, 20:15 IST: The umpires are out in the middle. And, they don't seem to be happy with the conditions.

19:38 Local Time, 14:08 GMT, 19:38 IST: We are hearing that the pitch inspection has been postponed to 20.15 local.

There will be an inspection at 20.00 local once the covers are peeled off.

18:40 Local Time, 13:10 GMT, 18:40 IST: Good news, folks! "The ground staff are beginning to remove the covers, and the crowd - who've waited so patiently - roar their approval .. but the word is it'll take about 90 minutes to get the surface into a playable condition," is the latest tweet from Test Match Special

18:05 Local Time, 12:35 GMT, 18:05 IST: The live pictures don't seem to be promising. Chances of any further play look bleak.

17:45 Local Time, 12:15 GMT, 17:45 IST: No optimistic update as yet. "Rain a touch heavier again and a little gloomier. But it is getting dark anyway," tweets John Etheridge.

Australia: 87/0 --> 87/1 --> 87/2 --> 87/3. Mohammad Abbas picking all the three wickets. Switch tabs to follow the Dubai Test.

17:05 Local Time, 11:35 GMT, 17:05 IST: The rain has eased out a bit; still drizzling.

16:45 Local Time, 11:15 GMT, 16:45 IST: It is still raining heavily in Dambulla and we'll start to lose overs now.

Bhargava: Can anyone say why was David Willey not included in the squad for this series , is he injured? -- Willey has a back injury and hence wasn't considered for selection.

16:15 Local Time, 10:45 GMT, 16:15 IST: There you go, it has started to rain now. Perhaps, the news we are getting in is that it's absolutely pelting down.

16:05 Local Time, 10:35 GMT, 16:05 IST: The entire ground has been covered and it has gotten further dark. We might be in for a long delay.

manish negi: Beauty of Cricbuzz ... we can enjoy action of two different formats at the same time. -- Yes, time to switch tabs and enjoy the Pakistan-Australia Test.

15:44 Local Time, 10:14 GMT, 15:44 IST: The groundsmen bring in the covers as a precautionary measure and the players walk off the fielders. It isn't actually raining at the moment, but the wind has picked up. The entire playing area is being covered. We'll keep you updated.

Drinks! After a quick start, England lost both their openers in quick succession. Dananjaya has kept it tight after conceding 11 off his opening over. However, England's Test captain has tackled spin with rather ease. The dark clouds are threatening to make a statement here. Let's hope that weather doesn't play spoilsport. The match is nicely poised at this stage..

Dananjaya to Root, 1 run, goes straight with the arm and Root nurdles it behind square leg

Dananjaya to Root, no run, another turning leg-break, Root reads it off the pitch and defends off the back foot

Dananjaya to Root, no run, leggie, blocked solidly

Dananjaya to Root, no run, in-turner, punched to short mid-wicket

Dananjaya to Morgan, 1 run, quicker delivery at 91kph, Morgan stays leg-side of the ball and pats it to long-off