India-Australia ODI at Vizag faces rain threat

Visakhapatnam: With rain lashing parts of Rayalaseema and north coastal Andhra during the last 24 hours and IMD forecasts more rains till March 20, the much hyped second One-Day International cricket match between India and Australia faces a serious threat. The match will be played this Sunday at Dr YSR-ACA cricket stadium at Madhurawada here.

The tickets for the match were sold out in a few hours both online and offline. Youngsters, some of them first-timers, are eagerly waiting to enjoy the match from close quarters. “There is a possibility of heavy rain in north Andhra from Saturday, which might last till Monday,’’ said senior scientist at IMD Amaravati Dr S Karunasagar.

He said the rain would be accompanied by gale winds and thunderstorms. The  trough  from   south   Tamil Nadu to north Konkan is now seen as a trough/wind discontinuity from Interior Tamil Nadu to central Madhya Pradesh across Rayalaseema, Telangana and Vidarbha at 0.9km above mean sea level.

The trough from the cyclonic circulation over Bangladesh and the neighbourhood to north Coastal Andhra Pradesh across Gangetic West Bengal and Odisha at 0.9km above mean sea level has become less marked.

Under its influence, heavy rain is likely at isolated places in North Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, South Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema. Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning  and gusty  winds (with a speed of 30-40 kmph) are likely at isolated places in North Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam till March 20, weatherman said.

“During the last 24 hours ending at 8.30am on Friday, Koilkuntla (Kurnool district) received 8cm of rain and Karamchedu (Bapatla ) 6cm. Several parts of Parvathipuram Manyam district and Rayalseema received an average of 3cm rainfall.”