DEMOLITION MAN...Venkatesh Prasad at his venomous best before rains and bad light put a hold to his pyrotechniqes.

COLOMBO, July 20: Pakistan gained celestial mercy to keep their hopes alive in the Pepsi Asia Cup. Help from the heavens came in the form of bad light and rains to douse the Indian fire at the Sinhalese Sports Club, today.

The Venkatesh Prasad-led Indian charge came to a premature end as the needle contest was abandoned with Pakistan's top five batsmen gone for 30 runs in a matter of just nine overs.

Play was first stopped after five overs with the score on 19 for three. When the match resumed, it was restricted to 33-overs-a-side affair. But after just five overs, the umpires fished out their light meters and decided to stop play again -- this time for good.

There was no signs of rain when the match was stopped again. However, the covers came on as a protective measure. The umpires consulted the ground staff, who said they would need at least 45 minutes to uncover the playing area as and when they are ordered.

The umpires took that as a signal to decide that there would not be enough time to bowl the mandatory 25-overs-a-side to make it a proper contest and thus called off the game.

The decision, understandably, did not go down well with the Indian team. However, they kept mum for fear of reprisal from the International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee, John Reid of New Zealand.

But the fact remains that 45 minutes was too long a time for removal of covers and the umpires should have taken a meaningful time frame into account before arriving at their decision.

The umpires decision came into sharper focus when the light actually improved about 20 minutes after play was called off, though it must be said that the match would have met a watery grave anyway. The rains that followed later in the day would have ensured that.

Tomorrow's reserve day will be utilised to replay the match as a fresh 50 overs-a-side game.

Tendulkar won an important toss in the morning and sent Pakistan in, under a heavy cloud cover. And Prasad revelled under the seaming conditions to make the ball wobble in the air and dart off the seam to make batting extremely difficult.

He struck in the very first over, getting a favourable lbw decision. Saeed Anwar was rapped high on the pads and the ball looked as if it would have sailed over the stumps.

However, the umpire was in agreement with Prasad.Aamir Sohail's return from international banishment continued to be unproductive. He followed up scores of six and zero in the championships with another failure -- lbw to Prasad for one in the third over of the innings.

Two balls later, Prasad packed off Inzamam-ul-Haq too. He squared up the batsman with a gem of an outswinger as the ball kissed the outer edge and flew high and wide off gully. But Rahul Dravid, in Jonty Rhodes style, defied gravity to come with the catch while airborne and in full stretch.

The enthusiasm of the Indian team to get back into the thick of action was best reflected in the manner in which they trooped into the field and took their positions, even as the umpires were placing the stumps and the ground staff were removing the protective covers off the playing arena!

Prasad sustained his brilliance after the unscheduled break. He got Salim Malik caught at second slip by Mohammed Azharuddin, who then caught Rameez Raja in the same position off Abey Kuruvilla.

The threat of the delayed monsoon continues to hover Colombo. And if tomorrow's replay is washed out too, then it will boil down to India's match against Bangladesh. Pakistan have played all their matches. However, the fact that they have scored 319-5 against Bangladesh would go a long way in helping their cause.

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTAN: Saeed Anwar lbw Prasad 0 (5m, 6b); Aamir Sohail lbw Prasad 1 (15m, 3b); Rameez Raja c Azharuddin b Kuruvilla 5 (43m, 21b); Inzamam-ul-Haq c Dravid b Prasad 0 (3m, 2b); Salim Malik c Azharuddin b Prasad 10 (21m, 13b, 1x4); Moin Khan not out 4 (12m, 8b, 1x4); Shahid Afridi not out 0 (5m, 2b); Extras: (lb3, w6, nb1) 10; Total: (for five wickets in nine overs and 55 minutes) 30

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Anwar), 2-10 (Sohail), 3-10 (Inzamam), 4-23 (Malik), 5-29 (Raja)

Bowling: Prasad 5-1-17-4, Kuruvilla 4-0-10-1

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.