'It's cloudy but no rain': Dinesh Karthik shares weather update ahead of Day 3 of WTC final
Jun 20, 2021
Southampton [UK], June 20 : Veteran wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik on Sunday informed that the weather is cloudy but there is no rain at the moment in Southampton.
The opening day's play in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Ageas Bowl was called off without a ball being bowled on Friday.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli finished the second day of the summit clash unbeaten on 44 as India and New Zealand went to stumps with the game evenly poised.
Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane put on an unbeaten stand of 58 as India battled to 146/3 when bad light forced an early end to the day, with only 64.4 overs of play possible.
Ahead of the third day, Karthik, who is there for commentary duties, shared a picture from the stadium informing that fans need not worry as there is no rain at the moment.
"Another 3.5 hours to go for play to start, so lets not worry too much guys. For now it's cloudy. But the good part is, there is not rain atm," Karthik wrote on the photo while sharing it on Twitter.
After a washout on day one, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl, looking to make the most of the overcast conditions in Southampton.
And it was India who started the stronger as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill combined to put on 62 for the first wicket.
Rohit looked particularly threatening, with two boundaries through the offside in Tim Southee's fourth over of the morning.
However, Kyle Jamieson made the breakthrough with a full ball angled in. It moved away late and Sharma edged to Southee at third slip for 34.
His dismissal slowed the scoring, and he was soon joined by opening partner Gill, who feathered one through to BJ Watling off the bowling of Neil Wagner for 28.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli saw India through to lunch at 69/2 but the scoring rate had dropped rapidly, and that continued into the second session.
Eventually, that pressure told and Pujara fell LBW to Trent Boult for just eight, leaving India 88/3.
Rahane joined Kohli in the middle as India tried to rebuild. The pair knuckled down and got their side to 120/3 at tea, with bad light forcing the players off.
Just three more overs were possible after lunch until another enforced break, lasting half an hour.
On the return, Rahane and Kohli continued to accumulate, taking their partnership past 50 before bad light meant an early end to proceedings.
