By Avishek Roy
New Delhi, Dec 27 (IANS) It turned out to be an embarrassing day for Indian cricket as the fifth and final One-day international between India and Sri Lanka at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Sunday was called off after the pitch was declared unplayable and dangerous for batsmen.

It was the second time since 1997 that a cricket match in India, incidentally also featuring the same two countries, was spiked due to very same reasons — then at Indore.

India have already clinched the current series 3-1 after winning the fourth ODI at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The Kotla match began with Zaheer Khan dismissing Upul Tharanga with a delivery that rose sharply and moved in to clip the bails.

From then on, if one ball shot through, another flew over. Some deliveries struck the batsman or left blotches on the body.

But the show went on for over 23.3 overs before the two captains and players, umpires and the ICC match referee, Alan Hurst, realised that the match cannot go on.

The play was stopped at 11.20 a.m. Just over an hour later, the giant scoreboard flashed that the match had been called off, leading to roars of disapproval from a 40,000-strong crowd packing the stadium.

Tillakaratne Dilshan faced the fury of the pitch as an Ashish Nehra delivery took off menacingly from just short of a good length and hit his forearm in the 10th over.

Dilshan fell off holding his arm and was in agony. He received medical attention before resuming play. But he was out in the very next over from Zaheer, edging an away going delivery behind the stumps.

The aggressive opener was unusually calm during his 39-ball stay (20 runs), hitting only two fours as he tried to figure out the wicket.

Zaheer (2-31) and Nehra bowled good spells. Sri Lankan batsmen were soon struggling in the middle 83 for five.

Skipper Kumar Sangakkara instructed Muthumudalige Pushpakumara and Thilina Kandamby to stop play after after a ball from debutant pacer Sudeep Tyagi flew past Kandamby and even wicketkeeper and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

It was the second such delivery in the same over. The earlier victim was Pushpakumara.

To his dismay, Dhoni found some balls speeding past his boot laces or so high that he could not get to them.

When the batsmen tried to chance their luck by thrusting the bat, the edges sent the ball to untenanted areas. Debutant Tyagi found surprisingly that he was unplayable.

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara was Tyagi’s first international wicket. After a ball from a good length took off, Dhoni couldn’t believe the new lad was so ferocious despite coming on so late in the innings.

There was the usual sprinkling of grass rolled into the pitch. When the ball found the green, the ball bounced. When it landed on the mud pack, it scooted through.

As luck would have it, the northern wintry morning after the coldest night of the season made everyone on the field shiver. It was pure and simple lottery, not cricket.

The organisers were in a blind. With fury enveloping the 40,000-strong crowd, some players tried to figure out the adjacent pitch.

But nothing worked. The packed Kotla crowd grew restive and started throwing trash on the ground. They were eventually asked to leave.

The giant screen said that the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association was apologetic about the cancellation and would pay back their money.

The last time a match was called off in India due to dangerous pitch was in 1997, also featuring India and Sri Lanka. The venue was Indore.

Sanath Jayasuriya is the only Sri Lankan from the present team to have featured in that match. Only three overs were possible in the game and the venue was suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for two years.

It was the first time in international cricket that a match was abandoned due to poor pitch.