Cricket returned to the Valley, briefly, as the Ranji Trophy Plate Division match between Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana got underway at the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar on Wednesday.

However, only eight overs of play were possible after bad weather once again intervened. The first day’s play on Tuesday had been called off entirely due to persistent rains over the last four days.

On Wednesday, J&K won the toss and elected to field first. Haryana were 23/1 in eight overs before play was stopped once again. This is the first Ranji Trophy match being played in Srinagar in over five years, and comes one week after the Services team controversially pulled out of their season-opener against J&K at the last minute.

While the Services team were subsequently banned from the tournament by the BCCI, there were initial fears that other teams would follow suit. Haryana, however, arrived in Srinagar two days before the much-anticipated clash, which has been hit hard by poor weather.

Brief scores: Haryana 23 for 1 in 8 overs (Sunny Singh batting 9; Abid Nabi 1/18) vs Jammu & Kashmir