Pleasant weather ahead of IPL match in Dharamsala

Shimla, May 21 : Pleasent weather will welcome cricket fans for the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Kings XI Punjab and Deccan Chargers in the hilly town of Dharmasala.

Early morning showers Saturday brought down the temperatures by several notches across the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, bringing much relief from the scorching heat wave.

Dharamsala, the venue of the IPL match, experienced 3.2 mm of rain accompanied with thunderstorms.

"The minimum temperature of Dharamsala was 20.7 degrees Celsius Saturday. The day's temperature will be down by three to five notches against Friday's 35.2 degrees Celsius," Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, told IANS.

The western disturbances would remain active in the state for the next two days.

"There are chances of cloudy conditions in most of the popular tourist destinations in the state, including Dharamsala, throughout the day," he added.

The entire state was hot Friday with the maximum temperatures hovering one to six degrees above the average.

Shimla recorded a low of 13.3 degrees Celsius Saturday, while it was 14.8 degrees in Bhuntar and 7 degrees in Kalpa.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will witness the match along with state Governor Urmila Singh and Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

In the previous IPL edition, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, dressed in a traditional maroon robe, was the centre of attraction during the day-and-night match here between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings.

He not only enjoyed the match but also savoured the company of Preity Zinta, Bollywood actress and co-owner of Kings XI Punjab, over tea.