Torrential rain limited the first day of Indias warm-up match against Victoria to one session.
Melbourne, Dec.20 : Torrential rain limited the first day of India's warm-up match against Victoria to one session.
During that period, Sourav Ganguly continued with his superlative form in 2007, scoring an unbeaten half century after surviving some early wobbles. Rahul Dravid, who is being touted to open in next week's Boxing Day Test, made a sedate 33 and was still at the crease when play was called off because of the downpour.
The rest of India's top order struggled against Victoria's fringe fast bowler Allan Wise before the Junction Oval was flooded by rain. The players left the ground for tea.
Ganguly (51) scored his half century at the stroke of tea, gliding one down to point region. His 86-ball innings included eight hits to the fence.India closed the day at 110 for 3 from 38 overs.
The duo's damage-control partnership came when the visitors were reeling at 38 for 3 inside the first hour after the early session was washed out.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the stand-in captain in the absence of Anil Kumble who chose to skip the game, won the toss and promptly decided to give his batsmen the much-needed practice in Australian conditions.
Left-arm paceman Allan Wise claimed all three wickets in the second session of the day's play.
Wasim Jaffer (0) set the tone for the miserable afternoon when his attempted pull went high up for the mid-off fielder to take an easy catch. VVS Laxman (1) lazily flicked a delivery for wicketkeeper Matthew Hade to bring off a smart catch on the legside. Sachin Tendulkar (19) looked completely at ease as he stroked a few shots down the ground before he under-edged a cut on to his stumps.
The conditions were damp and the ball never quite came on to the bat which accentuated the batsmen's problems.
ANI