India vs Netherlands, Warm-up at Thiruvananthapuram, WC Warm-up, Oct 03 2023 - Match Result

4:06pm News coming in is that the match has been abandoned. The rain has gotten heavier again. Rather sad that quite a few people came in, and just 20-25 minutes ago, the covers were off and it looked like there would be a game. Alas, it wasn't to be. Australia vs Pakistan and Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka are still going on. So check that out. Hope to see you when the main event starts. Bye for now.

Remember Yuvraj Singh's six sixes in an over? India's compound archers did the exact same, and then did it again! Pravin Ojas shot 15 consecutive perfect 10s in the quarterfinal and another perfect 15 in the semifinal to put him in contention for the gold. And he's not alone, as India's archers shone in the spotlight to cap off a perfect day:

3:55pm The covers are mostly off. The ones remaining are being folded. There is movement as I type. A big white cover is being brought in. Not raining yet, so this looks to be precautionary. It's a pity given that the crowd has built up over time and continued to wait patiently. Five minutes later, rain returns!

ShahSafeer: "I've been reading different articles regarding the rise of franchise cricket and slow death of ODIs. One thing that's never been said before that it's not the format or formats that attract the crowd but the teams. When Eng, NZ, Aus and Ind play against each other, people usually come in numbers no matter what format they play, SA, SL and Pak attract a bit of crowd while others really don't. So does that mean they should limit the sport to a few countries, if making money is the only aim? " Good point. I think Nasser Hussain talking on those lines after the Ashes. It's certainly a multi-faceted issue.

Mohil: "Why have T20 cricket? Why not have something in between 20 overs and 50 overs and nothing else?" England did that with the pro40. In 2014, Martin Crowe wrote that forty overs is one-day cricket's future

Rachit-77 : "Curious question..Can u tell how many overs possible today....?" Depends on when play starts and whether there'll be further interruptions (which is likely). If it starts at 5 and goes all the way, my guess would be each team getting around 33-35 overs.

3:32pm Thanks, Himanshu. The covers are being folded, the pitch is fully uncovered as the crowd await.

Sree: "I want Ashwin to bowl at least one over of left arm spin today"

Niall O'Bri: "What's pub quiz in kerala called? A Trivia-ndrum"

3.20pm All right, here we go: the covers are being removed. An hour and twenty minutes are already gone, so overs will all but surely be lost. And with that piece of good news, Ekanth is back to drive the game.

Viraj: "While we wait for the resumption, I would like to ask if we have a washout, do India have zeroed-in on a playing XI against Australia? I assume Shami, Thakur, Sky and Kishan won't feature on 5th Oct at Chennai" --- Probably, but for that to happen, the pitch in Chennai must be expected to be an absolute turner for all three of Jadeja, Ashwin and Kuldeep to squeeze in

The rain may have stopped, but Neeraj Chopra never does. India's favourite son is in action at the Asian Games tomorrow, defending his gold medal from 2018. But his major competition comes in the form of his friend Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan.

3.04pm The super soper is out on the cover. Samuel Badree says the drainage is good. The umpires say it has been raining for about 16 hours, as dark clouds keep hovering. They're looking at the radar, and expect more rain later.

Bharani: "I think the cutoff for warm-up matches should be 35 overs a side instead of the usual 20 overs. There is no point warming up for 50 over WC with 20 over matches" --- You never know what scenarios you might end up facing in the tournament, so it's only logical that the rules and playing conditions all remain the same

Tapas: "India already had a three-match warm-up series against Australia a week back. India can rest. Feel bad for Netherlands though"

While the rain continues in Thiruvananthapuram, there's plenty of live action elsewhere. At the Asian Games, India are currently leading South Korea in kabaddi, with plenty of other athletes in action too. Catch ESPN India's live blog here.

2.45pm Here's some news: the rain has stopped. The umpires were out and had a chat, though the covers are still on. An update is expected at 3pm.

Sundeep: "So the Dutch returned to Kerala after 400 years, and have been welcomed by rain"

Muzaiyen: "Asian Games have kept me busy"

Hello, everyone. I'm sure it's all planned to build up more of the excitement as we can't wait for the tournament proper to begin. So what has kept you busy during this rain watch?

2:25pm Covers still firmly on, there are a couple of damp patches just outside the ring. Might take about 35 minutes more before overs start being reduced. In the meantime, here's Himanshu to open his comms stint.

Karthik Reddy: "Will these warm up games add in the official ODIs?" Nope.

J PRASANNA: "Pity those fans who went to the Stadium. I saw NEDvsAUS warm-up match where Australia Team entered the ground by 5:30PM only. Am sure Team India will be relaxing at their respective Hotels now."

Ashvarya: "Also, @Daniel, if you listen to an interview done by R Ashwin with a member of TNCA, he clearly states that they want to finish all the matches to be held on Chennai before beginning of November as the South Eastern Monsoon will start after that. It shows that they do plan the schedule mostly but more often than not, precise prediction of weather specific to a date is a massive challenge say 5 months back. "

India are favourites at the ODI World Cup, just like India are favourites in men's hockey at the Asian Games. But, there's a similar trend seen from both teams: blow away teams in the group stages, but struggle in the knockouts. Anish Anand from ESPN.in offers a reality check.

1:50pm The covers are still on. There is a sprinkle of crowd in the stands and are cheering in the odd moments where the intensity of the rain reduced.

ICYMI: India's men began their Asian Games campaign today, with a win over Nepal in Hangzhou.

Sidharth: "Daniel, the monsoon in India ends on 30th September. Even if we see rainfall it will be sporadic. The situation in Trivandrum is not normal"

R.Jayaraman: "Why are they scheduling the matches during the rainy season and the common places where the raining is common. Places like kerala, Assam and western ghat area. This would be happening during the world cup also, not only during warm up matches." Guwahati and Assam won't host matches in the World Cup. And with regards to scheduling, here's Osman Samiuddin's piece, that was mentioned in the last game as well, looking into the issue.

Daniel: "I recall many Asian commentators and fans asking why the 2019 world cup was played in England when it rained there, perhaps it's time to ask the same thing!" Sure, if a pointless rhetoric needs revival. Although, there are a few genuine comments that are questioning the choice of venue.

1:32pm The covers are soaking wet, there are some tyres around to keep them down. The advertising signs are drenched too. And... It's official, toss has been delayed by rain, as is the case with Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka. Over in Hyderabad, Australia will bat against a Shadab Khan-led Pakistan.

1:20pm From how it looks, the toss won't happen on time. Luckily Ravi Shastri and Harbhajan Singh joined Raunak Kapoor to have you covered with regards to looking ahead to the tournament. Here's them predicting their semi-finalists, working out who makes it between SKY and Shreyas in India's XI, and talking about the nature of expectations that the India carry.

Nithin Nizam: "@Vichu: Staying about 500m from ground, I do not see the game starting anytime soon. Its drizzling now, but was raining pretty heavily since morning"

Vichu : "So frustrating as a fan from Thiruvananthapuram. Deciding whether to go or not since I got the tickets.Have got a 10 km journey to the stadium from home.It isn't raining much but still is cloudy here near home. Don't want to go that much distance and comeback without seeing any action. "

1:10pm It's the final day of the ODI World Cup warm-ups, and India will take on Netherlands in one of three simultaneous games. As has been the case in Thiruvananthapuram in the past week or so, it is raining and covers are on with around 50 minutes to go for the scheduled start. India had a washout against England in their first warm-up match but, as Rohit Sharma said in the toss there, the team was ready and warm-ups were just a formality which could imply that another washout or rain-affected game here shouldn't hamper their preparation too much. For Netherlands, making it to the main event as the only associate team is an achievement, given that they had to make it with West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Ireland in the Qualifiers. The schedule has been particularly unkind of them, and they are the underdogs. But as Firdose Moonda's team preview notes, they have the power to push some of the bigger teams hard, as they have done before.