Spells of downpour accompanied by thunder led to Sunday’s IPL final between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings at the Motera in Ahmedabad being called off for the day.

The final will now be held on Monday — its reserve day.

It was just after half past six on Sunday evening that heavy rain lashed the Motera with the toss too not happening. There seemed to be some good news for the two teams as well as the fans who were waiting patiently as rain stopped at 8.55pm.

The weather did look a tad better and the covers too had come off then. Players were back on the field and the on-field umpires were also out for a round of inspection of the outfield. But soon they had to to head indoors as rain started pelting again from around 20 minutes past nine.

With rain not relenting till even 10pm, chances of having a 20-overs-a-side clash on Sunday were quashed with the cut-off time (for a full game) being 9.35pm. In other words, there was no relief from the rain as a few minutes before 11pm, the game was called off for the day after a round of meeting between the umpires, match referee Javagal Srinath, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming and his Titans counterpart Ashish Nehra.

The weather forecast in Ahmedabad for Monday says there’s 10 per cent chance of rain, though it had predicted a clear Sunday evening.

The final was supposed to Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s 250th appearance in the IPL, while speculation continues on whether Thala will be back in the yellow jersey next year or be at the team dugout.

Dhoni’s teammate Ambati Rayudu, however, confirmed that this IPL final would be his swansong.