IPL 2017: 2 lakh litres of water was pumped out to enable Eliminator run chase at Bengaluru

What’s the story?

The KKR run chase in the IPL 2017 Eliminator almost never happened. From 9.30pm to a little past midnight, the rains were relentless. As the players and fans watched on in frustration, the officials waited for the rains to abate. For they knew that just as soon as the rains stopped, the ground was always going to be ready for action.

Speaking to Sportskeeda, Vinay Mruthyunjaya, spokesperson for the KSCA said, "The state of the art Sub Air system at Chinnaswamy stadium was on the minute it started raining, continuously evacuating water from the playing surface."

This meant that there was no water stagnation and no puddles formed anywhere on the ground.

"Nearly 2 lakh litres of water was evacuated from the field last night and the outfield was in playable condition exactly 15-20 mins after the rain stopped," he added.

The Background

As dark clouds loomed large over the M Chinnaswamy on Wednesday afternoon, the IPL 2017 Eliminator between KKR and SRH was on tenterhooks. The heavens had opened up at 3.30pm and had pounded several parts of the city relentlessly for the next three hours. The game, however, began per schedule and SRH posted 128/7 in their allotted 20 overs. It was then that the downpour resumed and this time, the rain gods picked out the stadium. The showers and the accompanying winds were menacing and the ground staff had a hard time keeping the covers on the ground.

The Details

For KKR, it was vital that they got out and completed the run chase. For SRH had finished higher than KKR in the group stages and this meant that the former would go through to Qualifier 2 if the match were to have been abandoned. But thanks to the Sub Air system, KKR got their chance to have a crack at SRH’s total.

As is the case with rain curtailed matches, the Duckworth-Lewis method took effect and KKR’s target was revised to 48 from 6 overs. And when play resumed, KKR knocked off the requisite 48 runs from 6 overs. Gautam Gambhir struck 2 boundaries and 2 sixes en route to a 19 ball 32 to spearhead KKR's run chase.

Earlier, KKR had won the toss and opted to field first. Coulter-Nile’s spell of 3/20 broke SRH’s back and earned him the man of the match award. Coulter-Nile was ably supported by Umesh Yadav who picked up 2/21.

SRH sniffed victory after reducing KKR to 12/3 in the second over. But a calm and collected Gambhir steered KKR over the ropes.

What’s next?

KKR will now take on MI in Qualifier 2 scheduled at Bengaluru on May 19.