India vs Canada match abandoned due to wet outfield in Florida

Rohit Sharma in Florida on Saturday. Pic/Getty Images

The super soppers were out in force, the blowers worked overtime, but in the end, man's best efforts were ineffectual against the fury of nature.

It has barely rained in Fort Lauderdale since 2:00 pm local time on Friday, but days of heavy precipitation since the start of the week left the Broward County Stadium outfield in a mess as the one-time wetlands made a dash back in time. As a result, Saturday's Group ‘A' encounter between India and Canada, with no real meaning so far as the tournament is concerned, was abandoned without a ball being bowled at 11:30 am local time, after a second inspection by umpires Richard Kettleborough and Sharfouddula.

More than 5,000 fans, mostly Indian, had braved doomsday predictions and flown over from different parts of the US and Canada, hoping for one last slice of action before the Indians fly out to Bridgetown to kick off their Super Eight campaign, but their aspirations were dashed and they had to make do with the odd sighting of the Indian player when he came out for a cursory game of touch football.

The Broward County Stadium has hosted eight T20Is in the past involving India, all against West Indies, but there is only so much rain the drainage system can address. Having already witnessed two previous abandonments - Sri Lanka v Nepal on Tuesday and USA v Ireland on Friday - there is every chance that Sunday's final Group ‘A' clash here between Pakistan and Ireland will also be a non-starter.

India might have looked to smoothen some rough edges, including a return to run-scoring ways of Virat Kohli. Instead, they will have to reconcile to several days at nets before they begin their Super Eight campaign, against dangerous floaters in Afghanistan at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown on Thursday next.