The final ODI between India and Sri Lanka has been called off due to unplayable conditions at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi.

Sri Lanka were put in to bat on a surface which had an uneven sprinkling of grass on it, and they were 83 for five in 23.3 overs when match officials deemed the surface too treacherous for play to continue.

The players left the field as officials from the staging association together with match referee Alan Hurst and the on-field umpires headed for the pavilion for a closed-room discussion.

India’s bowlers, aided generously by hazy morning conditions and a surface that provided considerable variable bounce, had left Sri Lanka in disarray.

Zaheer Khan had provided early sparkle for a sizeable turnout, bowling Upul Tharanga through the gate with the first delivery of the match.

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya had battled on and helped the visitors recover some ground, both living dangerously on the edge in that period.

Dilshan was then rapped on the elbow by a delivery from Nehra which took off from good length resulting in a delay in proceedings as he received treatment.

Jayasuriya was also hit on the gloves by a delivery and play was stopped for the third time as he was attended to by the physio.

Both batsman fell almost immediately after those blows and Sri Lanka slipped to 63 for five.

They had avoided losing any further wickets when a delivery from debutant Sudeep Tyagi again took off from good length and flew well over Thilina Kandamby’s head.

Dhoni managed to collect with a timely leap, but the two umpires - Marais Erasmus of South Africa and local umpire Shavir Tarapore - decided to intervene.

They were joined by Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara and Hurst in an on-field discussion which resulted in players leaving the field.

India already have an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Sudeep Tyagi.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (C), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Sanath Jayasuriya, Thilan Kandamby, Thissera Perera, M Pushpakumara, Chanaka Welegedara, Suranga Lakmal and Suraj Randiv.