By IANS,
New Delhi : Unseasonal rain played spoilsport for Kolkata Knight Riders, dashing their hopes of a semifinal berth in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after their match against Delhi Daredevils was washed out without a ball being bowled at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium here Thursday.
Delhi Daredevils and Knight Riders, after splitting two points, were at 13 and 11 points respectively in the IPL standings. Both teams desperately nedded to win this match to keep their hopes alive for a semi-final berth.
Daredevils and Knight Riders, occupying fourth and sixth positions in the points table respectively, have just a match to go.
Delhi Daredevils still have a chance of qualifying to reach the knock-out stage with their only match against Mumbai Indians to be played here Saturday.
Daredevils will face competition from Mumbai Indians, dropped to fifth position (12) after Thursdays’ abandoned tie, for the fourth semi-final spot. But Mumbai Indians are at advantage as they have three three matches still left in the league.
Mumbai Indians will face Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals and Bangalore Royal Challengers next.
Daredevils have to beat Mumbai Indians by a huge margin to collect 15 points while they have to pray that the Mumbai team loses to Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers.
Even if Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers in their last match they will have 14 points – one short of Daredevils. In that case, Daredevils will be the fourth team after Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings to complete the semi-final line-up.
Inclement weather for the past couple of days had cast a cloud over this match and it proved a dampner Thursday.
When rain stopped after 9 p.m., Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly and his Daredevils counterpart Virender Sehwag along with umpires Steve Davis and A.V. Jayprakash came out to inspect the ground condition.
The ground was transformed into pools of water at several spots and despite the ground staff working throughout the day to ensure play, wet outfield forced the calling off the match.
Match Referee Clive Lloyd said though there were two super soppers pressed into service to flush the water but only one was in good condition.
This is the first IPL match to be abandoned due to rain.