KSCA's SubAir system pumps out 2 lakh litres of water in KKR-SRH IPL eliminator

Almost 2 lakh litres of water was pumped out of the ground by the state-of-the-art SubAir system at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore last night (May 18). In spite of over 3 hours of rainfall, the groundsmen did an excellent job to make sure we had a match on cards to decide the winner in the all-important eliminator between the defending champion Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

The match started at 8 PM IST on May 17 (Wednesday) only to finish at 1.27 AM (Thursday). Over the last few months, the Chinnaswamy Stadium has had a comprehensive makeover in terms of its outfield and drainage system. It has now installed a subsurface aeration system that is aimed at starting play within minutes after rain ceases. The system is powered by a 200-horsepower machine which has been developed by the American company SubAir.

On Wednesday (May 17) evening KKR won the toss and elected to bowl first. The two-time champions did a great job by restricting SRH to a score of 128/7. However, as soon as Hyderabad finished their innings it started to rain in Bengaluru and a threat of a washout started mingling around. If the game had been washed out then SRH would have got through owing to their higher rank in the points table.

But, thanks to Karnataka State Cricket Association’s (KSCA) excellent SubAir drainage system, the game was completed even though it was reduced to a 6 overs affair. KKR’s run chase began at 12.55 AM with a revised target of 48 from 6 overs.

Talking about the SubAir system:

“Continuous heavy rains lasted for more than 3 hours in total and it was threatening the match could have been a washout. The state-of-the-art SubAir system at M Chinnaswamy Stadium was on the minute it started raining, continuously evacuating water from the playing surface,” KSCA’s spokesperson Vinay Mruthyunjaya said.

“The system kept the outfield in playable conditions throughout, preventing puddling of water anywhere on the surface. As a result of which there was no scope for water stagnation anywhere in the outfield when the SubAir system is functioning.

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

With the strong batting lineup that KKR possesses chasing 48 in 6 overs was never going to be a tough task for them. Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front scoring an unbeaten 32 from 19 balls and took his team over the line with four balls to spare.

After the game, Gambhir went took to Twitter to thank the KSCA for revamping their drainage system. He tweeted, “Big thanks to KSCA for revamping their drainage system n flushing @KKRiders out of troubled waters…well literally. @ipl @BCCI.”

KKR will now lock horns with Mumbai Indians (MI) in Qualifier 2 at the same venue on Friday (May 19). The winner gets a ticket to play the final against Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) on Sunday (May 21) in Hyderabad.