1.16 am A premature end to an exciting game, then. Patriots move to second, after four wins in five games while Tridents are perilously close to falling off their fourth-spot on the points table. If Guyana Amazon Warriors win tomorrow, Tridents will slip to fifth. All of that means the tournament is set up beautifully as we near the business end of the league stage. We hope you enjoyed ESPNcricinfo's coverage of the 16th match of the season. Here's Alagappan Muthu's match report in case you joined us late. Till then, it's good bye!
1.10 am Losing captain Kieron Pollard is the Man of the Match for his half-century. He says: "Personal runs with the bat is always good, but we want to do it in a winning cause. Unfortunately, didn't happen today. We need to go back and fix a few areas. Some concerns that the team is not performing. It's a team sport and we need to look deep and hard. Batting and bowling can take care of itself, but our fielding attitude is below-par. I have told them how 'abysmal' it looks on television."
Victorious captain Chris Gayle says: "It's a good start. Happy with the win, another game tomorrow, especially quick turnaround given we play tomorrow again. My batting's balance was good tonight, it was something I did at the nets yesterday. A couple more games and I'll be fully fit. Everyone at St Kitts is happy as well, we are second and hopefully we can continue this over the weekend."
12.55 am And the two captains hug it out in the middle. Handshakes all around. That can only mean one thing: The match has been called off. St Kitts and Nevis Patriots win by 17 runs (DLS method) Hang around for post-match comments from the two captains. Also, who will the Man-of-the-Match be? Lots of contenders today.
Tridents coach Robin Singh is having a chat with his boys near the boundary. The players seem to be itching to play ball while Pollard and Gayle chat with the umpires.
12.44 am The umpires are back out again as the rain seems to have ceased. The covers are coming off as well. Good news, this. We may have more cricket after all. The umpires are carefully checking the playing area for wet patches.
Vikram Chadha: "I am in Delhi, and I have just had a corporate cricket match that I was supposed to play rained out as well. Rain, rain everywhere and no play. " -- Ah, that wretched rain. Always ruining weekends for cricket fans. By the way, we're still awaiting updates from the ground.
12.30 am The game should have restarted now. If Basseterre was dry, that is.
12.23 am Warner Park is still experiencing persistent rain. The outfield-covers are being brought out now.
Vikram Chadha: "Will any overs be deducted in the Tridents vs Patriots game, please advise?" -- I would think so, especially after this second round of rain.
Dhananjay: "Sreshth: Saturday morning in Bengaluru for you. Hope you are having some daalpuri with your second mug of coffee as we wait for the rain to let up and resume a rain of sixes from Gaylestorm. " -- Filter coffee only, sir! And Gayle has been very prudent today. Mixed his ones and twos well in between his boundary hitting
12.15 am Aaaand the groundstaff are running back once again. The rain has returned. There will definitely be an update to the restart time, but only once the rain stops.
12.10 am The game will restart at 12.30 am, say the umpires.
12.04 am We can now confirm: good news. The covers are being taken off, as the DJ pumps up the volume. The umpires are now out in the middle. Wonder what they're discussing. Meanwhile, the super sopper is hard at work.
11.50 pm No updates yet. That probably means it's still pouring at Warner Park.
Sam896luc: "Don't understand why games start at 9pm. Too late for kids who love the game." -- Works best for most time zones around the world, actually. Plus I suspect 9 pm is still too early for a Friday night in the Caribbean.
Patriots are currently 17 runs ahead of the DLS par-score. Stick around as we bring more updates.
11.37 pm It's raining hard now and the umpires have paused the game as the rain continues to get heavier. The pitch is being covered now. The strong cross-wind is making it tough for them to fix the covers over the 22-yards
The rain is getting heavier now. Patriots are ahead of the DLS par-score for now
Looks like there's rain in the air. The groundstaff are preparing themselves near the ropes
More bowling changes. Wahab is back
END OF OVER:9 | 9 Runs | STKNP: 82/1 (87 runs required from 11 overs, RR: 9.11, RRR: 7.90)
- Mohammad Hafeez28 (26b)
- Chris Gayle38 (25b)
- Wayne Parnell2-0-18-0
- Shamar Springer1-0-10-0
Slight field adjustments. Mid off is in, point is in. There's protection at cow corner, too
Mank: "C. B. Fry was partial to a dip-dye in his day." -- Wish there were more colour photos of the great man
END OF OVER:8 | 10 Runs | STKNP: 73/1 (96 runs required from 12 overs, RR: 9.12, RRR: 8.00)
- Mohammad Hafeez20 (21b)
- Chris Gayle37 (24b)
- Shamar Springer1-0-10-0
- Akeal Hosein3-0-24-1
Springer to bowl now