Unseasonal rain on Sunday threatened to delay the toss for the Women's World Cup final between India and South Africa here.

It has been a rainy morning, even though the last two days were largely dry. The IMD prediction for the match-day is: "generally cloudy with light rain".

The ground staff here at the DY Patil Stadium kept the centre and the two bowling ends covered right up till the boundary ropes but squares on either side of the pitch remained uncovered.

While it had been raining since morning here on Sunday, it picked up close to around 1:00pm and since the weather gods did not relent, the toss and start of the match was pushed to 3:00pm and 3:30pm respectively.

However, it began raining heavily again around 2:45pm, delaying both the toss and start of play for the summit clash which will unveil a new ODI world champion in women’s cricket.

The contest will see overs lost only if such delay persist after 5:00pm local time.

The final has a reserve day on Monday.

It was expected to be clear after 2:00pm as IMD predictions were for “generally cloudy skies with light rain” but certainly it wasn’t the case as the rains left the fans, who had queued up outside the DY Patil Stadium at least three hours before the start of play, to seek shade.

The ground staff at the DY Patil Stadium kept the centre and the two bowling ends covered right up till the boundary ropes but squares on either side of the pitch remained uncovered, which at least wasn’t the case during India’s league match against New Zealand.

The 13th edition of the Women's World Cup tournament is set to unveil a new champion with both India and South Africa being in hunt of their maiden title in the ODI format.

This is also the first time when neither Australia not England, who have 11 titles between them are featuring in the summit clash.

India had beaten the defending champions Australia in an emotionally-charged second semifinal by five wickets while South Africa crushed England by 125 runs in Guwahati.

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