No Result (abandoned with a toss)
Match Abandoned. It finally ends this six-hour long frustrating waits of umpteen stop-starts, inspections, and the covers coming off and getting back on just as quickly. The series will stay at 1-1, and it will stay in Grenada for the next one coming your way on the 27th. For now, on behalf us, in the hope of some better weather, ta ta!!
14:32 Local Time: Start the call-off countdown, 14 mins to it -- 14:45 local. The umpires are out there having one final look.
14:23 Local Time: It was a drizzle. It is now a shower. Count your odds ..
13:25 Local Time: We were all set to have a 30-overs-a-side game starting shortly, but as the rest of the day has been, the rain comes in exactly ten minutes prior to it to spoil everything. Rain continues to stop play.
13:05 Local Time: Well, well, now this escalated pretty quickly. First - it has stopped raining. Second - the umpires are out there to inspect. Three - we could have a start time quickly. We might have some action after all!
Narahari: @Aman "It is too difficult to find 2 or 3 genuine fast bowling all rounders like Stokes. Some don't even have one."
BaklyJeet: @Aman "No team has a perfect replacement for the players like Pandya or Stokes. They are like an absolute assets for their respective sides. The balance of the team just goes wrong when they are not playing. That's why I felt both India and England miss-handled them in the respective fiascoes."
12:30 Local Time: Guess what, the cover in the middle has become a lot bigger. So, yes, in short, nothing new to update. For some reason, the crowds don't seem to be in a mood to leave as they sing along in the stands. Perhaps they know something we don't.
12:22 Local Time: There's supposed to be an update at 12:30 local time, which is a few minutes from now. The wait has been such that this doesn't even seem exciting ..
Aman: "England are playing a genuine batsman in place of a genuine all-rounder. Shows that not even England have a like-for-like replacement for a player like Stokes."
12:02 Local Time: Believe it if you want, the covers are off.
Just another pessimistic reminder, there are no floodlights at this venue. And the latest we can start is by 15:00 Local Time | 19:00 GMT | 01:30 IST
Preetham: "Rain rain go away.....grumpy Preetham wants to watch the game. Please stop raining."
11:32 Local Time: Come on, spot the trend, you are smart people. The IF wins. The covers return and the 42-overs-contest is rapidly reducing.
Rishab: Going ahead here are some positives which make Windies a force to reckon with in this WC. 1 The Universe boss is firing consistently. 2 Solid contribution from the middle order (Hetmyer, Bravo, Hope) 3. Sheldon Cottrell (played 1 game but looks ready for international cricket)."
11:30 Local Time: Let's retry. It's reduced to a 42-over game. In 15 minutes .. but beware, there's a big IF, quite like the last two hours of false starts have been.
11:15 Local Time: It's a mean, mean joke playing out -- the rain is back.
11:01 Local Time: This one seems good. The sun is out. The rain has stopped. And the covers are off. The umpires are out there on an inspection, which could mean play in a few minutes. Play would be starting at 11:20 local - which translates to 15:20 GMT, 20:50 IST. A 45-over game.
Gagan Kumar Jain: "Happy to see Alex in the Eleven. This is why England are one of the strongest contenders for the WC."
10:49 Local Time: So it might, just might, have started drizzling again. Yes, England Cricket confirms it on twitter.
10:37 Local Time: Okay it might be a false dawn, but it HAS stopped raining.
Jason Holder: We would have liked to bowl first as well and there is something in it for the batsmen. We need to put some runs on the board, and this looks like a good hard batting track and should stay the same as the day goes on. We still have got pretty good depth in our batting lineup. We're unchanged today. Heymyer is a special player, he's immensely talented and we are trying to not give him a lot of advice.
Eoin Morgan: We're going to have a bowl. There are showers pretty much all day in the forecast and this gives us a best chance with the bat. Ben Stokes has rolled his ankle and is missing out as a precautionary measure and Alex Hales replaces him. Also, Chris Woakes comes in for Tom Curran like the first ODI. This does look like a good cricketing wicket.
Here's Darren Ganga with his pitch report: "The pitch looks very good for batting. It is hard, even and there's some dead grass here which could mean some tennis ball bounce. Also, the average score is something around 257, which means that historically it has been a good track."
10:27 Local Time: Oh no, no, no. The drizzle is back. You spoil sport! Get ready, it's going to be one of those days with a lot of these stop showers. This would also mean a certain reduction in the number of overs.
Ashish Gupta: "It is good that all the key players are coming back to WI team just before the World Cup. There is a good chance that they will rock in the 2019 WC!"
We are hearing that Ben Stokes has twisted his ankle and has been kept out as a precautionary measure. This could also give Alex Hales the chance to bat at number three again, allowing Joe Root his favoured number four slot.