Rain likely to wash out sixth ODI at Eden Park

Heavy rains in the Auckland region will surely wash out play in the sixth One-Day International between India and New Zealand at Eden Park, scheduled for Saturday.

This could mean the Indians' hopes of clinching the last two games in the seven-match series -- following their victory in the fifth ODI -- and getting back to winning ways before next month's World Cup competition will go down the drain.

Though the Eden Park wicket is well covered, the outfield has soaked up enough water.

Homes in Torbay and eastern Albany bore the brunt of a heavy downpour on Friday, leaving mud and debris. In Albany, the road to a cluster of homes off Oteha Valley Road was blocked for several hours and signs warning of polluted stormwater were placed at Torbay and Mairangi Bay.

Water services operations engineer Wally Potts said streams and drains could not cope with the flooding as about 30 manhole covers popped up during the heaviest downpour, spilling raw sewage on to the streets.

Though there is a reserve day for the match on Sunday, play is unlikely to start as cloudy spells of rain have been forecast for the next 24 hours.

In fact, cricket is not the only sport that is being held hostage this weekend. Yachting and tennis too have been done in by bad weather.

There was no play in the State Championship cricket match between Auckland and Otago at North Harbour stadium on Friday and in  the Heineken Open as well. Some of the world's best male players, including Brazilian ace Gustavo Kuerten, American Jan-Michael Gambill, Czech Jiri Novak, Felix Mantilla of Spain and Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia have been left cooling their heels in the hope that some time soon they might get on court. Kuerten had to move indoors to finish off his second-round clash with American Michael Russell.

India, down 4-0 in the seven-ODI series, had managed to claw a win back in the fifth game earlier this week in Wellington. With the sixth game likely to be washed out and just one more match to follow, it appears as if India's ill-fated tour of New Zealand is apt to come to a dismal end.