Tigers' warm-up abandoned because of rain

Bangladesh's first World Cup warm-up match against Pakistan at the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff has been called off because of persistent rainfall. It was to be the first of two warm-up games before Bangladesh squared off against South Africa at The Oval on June 2. Their second warm-up match will be against India, also at the Swalec Stadium, on Tuesday.

The forecast was for early morning rain and it has been raining since early morning, forcing the covers on the main square at Swalec Stadium. Rain stopped only at around 1:20 pm local time.

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1:59 pm: The match has just been called off, a bit of drizzle may have returned. Bangladesh will have to wait till Tuesday -- weather permitting -- to get some match time in the warm-up against India at the same venue. 

1:48 pm: The cut-off time has been pushed back to 4:17 pm (Bangladesh time 9:17 pm). 

1:20 pm: The rain has stopped just in the nick of time. There may be some play yet, but with the timeline of 90 minutes to get the ground ready for play, if the rain stays away, it looks like being a 20-overs-a-side match -- hardly the best preparation for a 50-over World Cup. 

12:50 pm: Frustration continues as the very light drizzle continues to fall in Cardiff. The groundstaff around the covers have abandoned their umbrellas -- an indication of how light the drizzle currently is. Even if the drizzle were to stop now and the sun breaks through the heavy cloud cover, the timeline of an hour to an an hour and thirty minutes to get play started leaves very little room for a match more than 25 overs a side. 

12:00 pm: The drizzle has not stopped, giving the lie to the forecast. The teams will take lunch at 12:30 pm.

11:45 am: The ICC has confirmed that we have started losing overs from 11:00 am onwards, and while the cut-off time to start the match is 3:02 pm, the match refereee can choose to call off the match earlier. The lunch break can be reduced to 10 minutes. 

11:40 am: The drizzle is still ongoing and the day is gloomy. There is still around three hours and 20 minutes for the cutoff time. It is a frustrating state of affairs because most fans who have come to watch the game are walking around in the open without umbrellas and the rain droplets are so light that they are not even falling straight, but meandering down to the surface. The forecast still shows no rain from 12:00 pm.

10:45 am: According to a Glamorgan County official, it will take between an hour and 90 minutes to get the ground ready after the drizzle stops. The official said that the cut-off time for a 20-over match to start is 3:02 pm, which is still more than four hours away. The forecast shows rain through 11:00am and no rain at 12:00pm. 

10:20 am: There has not yet been any official announcement about when the toss may be held as the drizzle has not abated yet. The drizzle is quite light, not even umbrella-worthy if you are in a hurry, so it can be hoped that the delay would not be overly long once it stops.