Heavy rain in Chennai forced the third one-day international between India and South Africa [Images] on Tuesday to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.

The wash-out was largely expected after rain lashed the city since Monday morning.

The umpires inspected the ground at the M A Chidambaram stadium twice on Tuesday before deciding to call off the day-night encounter, much to the disappointment of the nearly 20,000 fans who braved the wet spell in the hope of witnessing at least a truncated match.

The abandonment is bound to raise questions on the Board of Control for Cricket in India's rotational policy for allotment of venues as Chennai generally receives rainfall around this time of the year.

In 2003, a one-dayer between India and New Zealand [Images] was rained off, while last year the last day's play in the second Test against Australia [Images] had to be abandoned.

The series is locked 1-1, and with just two matches to go, it will now be rendered a tighter contest, a fact acknowledged by both captains.

The teams now proceed to Kolkata for the fourth ODI, scheduled for November 25.

It was also a disappointing day for Sachin Tendulkar [Images], who is poised to eclipse Wasim Akram's feat of 356 one-day international appearances and set a world record.