PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC-The first One Day International (ODI) between West Indies Women and England Women was abandoned yesterday because of persistent rain. The start of play was initially delayed until two pm eastern Caribbean time because of sporadic showers which forced grounds men at the Queen’s Park oval to keep the covers on for most of the scheduled morning session.
Between the scheduled start and the actual start, there were two rare moments of hope. The rain poured constantly except for two brief periods when the groundsmen were allowed to work on the pitch.
After lunch, a lengthy period of sun shone some hope on the match drying the Queen’s Park Oval surface quickly, and allowed the groundsmen to comfortably go about their jobs.
A 2 pm eastern Caribbean time start was scheduled, following a 1.30pm inspection by the umpires and a decision to reduce the number of overs to 23 a side, instead of the normal allotment of 50 overs a side. However a fresh downpour forced umpires to call of the match at 2.25pm after West Indies had won the toss and elected to field.
Windies Women got off to a good start with Treyamaine Smartt’s first two overs costing just four runs while Subina Munroe at the other end conceded one run from her one over.
But after the third over, the dark grey clouds hanging around opened up.
England were five without loss.
The second of the three match series is scheduled for Friday at the Queen’s Park oval.
