Duleep Trophy shared after 5 days & 10 overs

The city again experienced a morning shower and the umpires decided for a delayed start of the final day.

With unrelenting bad weather playing spoilsport,North Zone and South Zone were declared joint winners of the Duleep Trophy this year after the fifth days play of the final match was also called off without a ball being bowled here today.

Only 10 overs on the second day on October 18 were possible in the five-day match as wet ground conditions at the Nehru Stadium due to persistent rain played spoilsport.

The city again experienced a morning shower and the umpires decided for a delayed start of the final day.

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The umpires inspected the ground at around 2:45pm and decided to call off the match. It was the fourth instance in the history of Duleep Trophy when the title has been shared. Previous instances were West Zone/South Zone in 1963-64),North Zone/West Zone in 1988-89 and Central Zone/West Zone in 1997-98.

KCA apologises

MEANWHILE,the Kerala Cricket Association tendered an apology to Union Minister Shashi Tharoor for hurting his sentiments. The move came after agitated Youth Congress workers barged into its office on Monday and forced them to give a written apology for their statement against Tharoor,who had criticised the stadiums drainage facilities after the soggy outfield washed out play,even though the activists also broke a clock in the premises,KCA sources said.