IND vs SA 1st ODI Weather Report: Rain and thunderstorms may affect first game, will 130pm ODI start be delayed?

IND vs SA 1st ODI: The Ekana Atal Bihari Vajpayee cricket stadium in Lucknow will host the first ODI between India and South Africa in the three-match series beginning Thursday (October 6). But there is some bad news for the spectators hoping to catch a full day’s action in the capital city of Uttar Pradesh.

The weather report from Lucknow is not looking very rosy ahead of the first ODI. The game may be affected by rain and even a few thunderstorms are expected through the day. The meteorological department predicts 94 per cent cloud cover when the game begins at 130pm IST.

The temperature on Thursday afternoon is expected to be around 30 degrees with the humidity level around 81 per cent. But the concerning thing for both teams is that the MET department predicts a ‘mostly cloudy day with a couple of showers and a thunderstorm’.

Check weather prediction in Lucknow for Thursday here…

The pitch at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow was mostly under the covers on Wednesday evening, a day before the first ODI after the city witnessed showers on the occasion of Dussehra. If there is rain on Thursday morning as well, one can expect the toss to be delayed from 1pm scheduled time as well.

It has been pouring heavily in Lucknow since Tuesday night and there is prediction more rain on Thursday. “Rain is not in our control but the good thing is that the drainage system of this ground is very good. We are very hopeful the match will happen tomorrow. We have done our preparation and the boys are in good state of mind,” captain Shikhar Dhawan said.

India had defeated South Africa 2-1 in the preceding T20 series but Dhawan expects a tough fight from the Proteas in the ODIs. “South Africa has a good team. Winning and losing are part of the game but it is important to learn from defeats,” he said.

“Both the teams made plenty of runs in the T20 series. It depends on pitch, dew factor and plenty of other factors.”

(with PTI inputs)