Bristol: Sri Lanka were forced to split points for the second successive time in the ongoing World Cup after their match against Bangladesh was called off without a ball being bowled due to persistent rain here Tuesday.

Both the teams came into the match with one win from three matches and now each will get a point for the washout. Sri Lanka now have four points from as many games, while Bangladesh have three points from four games.

After two defeats, Bangladesh were looking for resurgence against Sri Lanka and now they will be wary of their semifinal chances.

"For all the teams, coming to the ground and not playing is disappointing and frustrating," said Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza.

"This is how the tournament is going, we got our chances against New Zealand, we couldn't get going in the England match, but it was frustrating today."

The result will leave Sri Lanka frustrated too as it is the second instant of a wash-out for the Island nation.

"The last few games have been washed out, so these kind of tournaments aren't easy. It is a bad time for us," Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne said.

"It isn't easy, we have to switch on and off all the time. These kind of things can happen but we have to get used to it. We can keep practicing and train harder for the Australia game. Definitely in every match we need to play for a win," he added.

This is the third match to be abandoned in the ongoing World Cup, the most in the history of the tournament, exceeding the two games at the 1992 edition in Australia and New Zealand and the 2003 event which was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

The 10-team showpiece event doesn't have any reserve days. Asked if there should be reserve days, Bangladesh coach Steve Rhodes said: "Yes, I would (have them).

"I know logistically it would have caused problems. But we can put a man on the moon, so if we have to travel a day later, so be it."

On Tuesday, both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were left staring at the sky, waiting for some divine intervention after the start of their key match was delayed due to heavy rains.

The inspection was postponed twice even as groundsmen tirelessly worked on draining out the water on the covers with the sucking brooms and mops.

At 13:57 local time, the umpires finally decided to officially abandon the match.

While for Bangladesh, it is there first World Cup match to be washed out, Sri Lanka were forced to split points with Pakistan in their last game after the match was called off due to rains.

On Monday, a struggling South Africa had to share points with the West Indies after their World Cup match was washed out due to persistent rain at Southampton.

Sri Lanka will next take on defending champions Australia at London on June 15, while Bangladesh will face West Indies on June 17 at Taunton.

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New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.

The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.

Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.

“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.

Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”

Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.

In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”

"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added. 

According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.

Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.