Rain scores a hat trick at Chennai test

Chennai: Tamil Nadu's capital woke up to a clear day after days of incessant rain.

The sun shone bright on Chennai on Sunday morning raising hopes that it would revive both normal life and cricket excitement.

However, the fate of the first Test match between India and Sri Lanka was almost sealed when the third day?s play was also called off.

After an inspection of the ground at the MA Chidambram stadium, the two match umpires decided to call off play due to nonconductive conditions.

The play for the first two days was also called-off following wet ground conditions due to the incessant rainfall that the city has been experiencing.

Parts of the city received heavy rainfall on Saturday and the continuous spell has left lakes around the city overflowing.

Two rivers running across Chennai-- Adyar and Cooum?are in spate while heavy outflow from lakes in the suburbs submerged several low-lying areas.

About 8,000 people were evacuated from suburban villages of the metropolis after they were marooned by flood water following heavy downpour.

Though the Cyclone Baaz has weakened considerably, the Met Department has predicted isolated heavy to very heavy rains in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, Vellore,

Tiruvannamalai, Dharmapuri and Vilupuram districts under the influence of a low pressure over south-west Bay of Bengal.

The traffic in the city was thrown out of gear on Saturday night with rain water indundating all major roads. Many sub-ways in the city were completely submerged.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced setting up of district, village and ward-level committees to undertake the relief and rehabilation work in all the 22 flood-affected districts of the state.