Rain washes out second day’s play

Rain washes out second day’s play

GALLE, July 19: Unrelenting rain played spoilsport as the second day of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka was called off without a single ball being bowled on Monday.

Sri Lanka remained on their overnight score of 256/2 and the washout has now greatly diminished the prospects of a result in Muttiah Muralitharan’s swansong Test.

The outfield was already wet due to overnight showers and things only got worse due to more rain this morning.

The brief appearance made by the sun in the afternoon, which prompted the ground staff to take off the covers, turned out to be a false dawn as it started pouring soon after, leaving the match officials with no choice but to call off the day’s proceedings at about 1500 hrs (local Time).

Somdev at career-best 103 in rankings

Somdev at career-best 103 in rankings

NEW DELHI, July 19: A semifinal appearance at the Aptos Challenger tournament helped India’s ace tennis player Somdev Devvarman rise back to his career-best singles ranking of 103 in the ATP charts.

Somdev lost to Donald Young in the last four stage but the effort was enough to jump two places up. Yuki Bhambri, who has resumed practice after nursing a broken ankle, has lost 14 positions to slip to 489th spot. In the doubles chart, veterans Leander Paes (6) and Mahesh Bhupati (7) kept their places in the top-10 while Rohan Bopanna rose a rung to career-best 38. Meanwhile, a struggling Sania Mirza gained a position to be at 131 in the WTA singles chart. (PTI)