Umpires K T Francis and Udaya Wickramasinghe made the formal announcement at 1000 hrs, the scheduled commencement of play, as a drizzle continued under near-cyclonic conditions. The authorities had not even removed the covers as rains had been lashing this coastal city in southern Sri Lanka for the past few days.

With monsoons intensifying, the final match between India and New Zealand in the second leg on Monday is expected to meet the same fate. The beating the ground has taken, it would take at least four days of bright sunshine for it to dry up, one of the staff said.

Knowing that the match was not possible, some of the players came to the ground and then left for the hotel. India and Sri Lanka have four points each from three and four matches respectively, while New Zealand have two from three matches against India and SriLanka.

GALLE: AFTER a four and a half hour discussion, India today rejected the proposal of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) to reschedule the rain hit Singer Akai Independence Cup currently underway in the island nation.

BCCSL president T Sumathipala told newspersons here tonight that India had rejected the rescheduling as the tournament was badly affected by monsoon rains. ``We wanted the matches to be played as it is a prestigious event for us. Both Sri Lanka and New Zealand are agreeable for the proposal.''

As per the proposal, the match between India and New Zealand would be rescheduled for tomorrow and six more encounters would be played in Colombo, an additional three matches.