6.45 pm Well, tell you what, they have so little hope, they have abandoned it already. Makes sense from the teams' point of view. They wouldn't want to risk any injuries in a shortened shootout in slippery conditions. They have a semi-final each to play. Daredevils have topped the group after taking two points from this washout. It will be Lions v Daredevils in Durban on Thursday followed by Titans v Sixers in Centurion on Friday. At the moment, it is raining in Durban as well. For the moment, Abhishek Purohit signing off on Tuesday night.

6.30 pm More of the same, still coming down, though not very hard

6 pm Still raining, but it has eased off. The cut-off time to get in a five-over game, is 8.10 pm.

James: "I agree with the comments about the Titans and Lions, but to me the most impressive thing has been the Sixers' young fast bowlers. The future of Australian fast bowling is looking very bright (sadly for us Poms)." Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins - that is an insanely potent line-up. Add Watson to that. But fret not, James, you guys have a few not-so-bad ones. Now who is that tall fella who breaks the wrong stumps too soon?

Myron: "Not taking anything away from Titans & Lions, they're played really well - but they are both playing at home with players hungry for cricket exposure. The IPL teams look a bit cricket'ed out, understandable given the T20 world cup was a few weeks ago. Glad they made it with the superstars to our (usually sunny) shores, great stuff for the fans."

zain: "Okay. Someone explain to me why David Warner usually sits out for Delhi Daredevils?!" He usually doesn't, but Mahela's leading this time, so he has to play, Morne Morkel can't be left out in these conditions, so he has to play, they don't leave out Kevin Pietersen when he is available, and this time he is through the tournament, which does not happen during the IPL. They also seem to prefer having Taylor in the XI down the order.

5.20 pm The start will be delayed. The square is under covers, and it is drizzling

Mark: "Surely, if there are 4 sides from one league you would expect ONE of them to win a couple of matches against sides from outside that league? It's like having 50 Americans in a golf tournament... one of them is bound to have a few good days!!" You would expect a lot more from sides that have so many star internationals in their ranks, Mark.

Harish: "Titans and Lions are the only team in my opinion who didnt look strong on paper (no big stars), but put up a great team show through out the tournament, and they very well deserved to be here. They proved that Cricket is all about performing on the field. Hope they make it count big time."

Justin: "@Pedro - Your point does not include the fact that 4 IPL teams automatically qualified for this tournament at the expense of teams that won their respective domestic competition - which is just wrong for a tournament that calls its self the champions league. Should be called the "Champions and middle tabled IPL League"." Justin, notwithstanding that basic flaw, the main criticism of the IPL sides was their inability to win games in this tournament, and Delhi have gone some way towards addressing that shortcoming

Subhash: "I think it is rather short-sighted of your commentary to refer to this match as a "dead rubber" - it is far from that !!! The Winner of this match will avoid Sydney &, hence, increase its chance of reaching the final. Should both progress to the final, the Winner of this match will have the psychological advantage in having beaten the other finalist only days earlier !!!" You can take all the psychological advantage you want, Subhash, but a dead rubber will stay dead. And won't avoiding Sydney mean having to face Lions? You do them a disservice, but I see where you come from

James: "A washout might suit Delhi. They'd top the group, and get some downtime. Wouldn't suit the rest of us, though." Whoa, James, that is a big liberty to take to say a washout won't suit everyone barring Delhi

Pedro: "In hindsight, the criticism on the IPL teams has been a little unfair, has it not? Here's why:
a) 1 Indian, 1 Aussie and 2 South African teams have qualified for the semis (not unexpected since we're playing in SA) b) KKR was poised for a win in their wash-out against Perth - if they had gone on to win that (and since DD will beat the Titans today) they would have qualified instead. c) None of the IPL teams ended up last. The qualifiers received that distinction as expected." Apart from the two ifs against point b, you have made your point, and it is a fair one

5 pm Titans have won the toss and will have a bowl

Ross Taylor is in the middle for the toss, and not Mahela Jayawardene. But unlike in the World Twenty20, Mahela is under no danger of bans and the like, he is sitting out so that Daredevils can give a game to David Warner

Paul Harris, the South Africa left-arm spinner, and Mangaliso Mosehle, are in for Titans.

It is quite overcast at the moment

4.55 pm In hindsight, it was unfair that Group B had as many as three dead games and Group A would have none. Perth Scorchers' win over Auckland Aces means Group A has one of its own now. The two semi-finalists from the group, Titans, and surprise, surprise, an IPL side - Delhi Daredevils - will meet in a dead game in a little more than half an hour. On a serious note, after all the criticism the IPL sides copped during the tournament, one of them, Daredevils are now in the semi-finals. For good measure, they are also one of only two sides who have stayed unbeaten so far. The other team, Sydney Sixers, ended up winning all their four games. Daredevils won't be able to do that - they endured a washout earlier - but can they remain unbeaten going into the semis? As extra motivation, it will enable them to avoid running into Sixers.