Rain stalled India's [ Images ] march towards a commanding 2-0 lead on the opening day of the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group I match against China after Harsh Mankad easily won the opening rubber in Delhi [ Images ] on Friday.

Unseasonal rains played spoilsport at the R K Khanna stadium and the second match between Prakash Amritraj [ Images ] and Wang Yu had to be called off for the day following repeated rain interruptions.

The chair umpire decided to call it a day with Amritraj leading 6-3, 2-3 when a steady drizzle disrupted the match for a third time.

The match will now be completed on Saturday before the doubles match between Leander Paes [ Images ]/Mahesh Bhupathi [ Images ] and Yu/Zhu Ben-Qiang.

India captain Leander Paes was looking forward to Prakash clinching the match and when the 22-year-old took the first set in just 32 minutes he looked in real hurry.

But rain came down just two games into the second set and again on resumption, after a 30-minute break. Only two more games were possible before rain again played hide and seek with the players and spectators.

Earlier, Harsh Mankad gave India a flying start when he thrashed top-ranked Chinese player Sun Peng 7-5, 6-3, 6-2, in the opening singles, which was also delayed by 90 minutes due to overnight rain.

Mankad packed off Peng in just under two hours. The 25-year-old, predominantly a hard court player, showed that he had the skill to win matches on grass as he took full advantage of his rival's inexperience at the uneven centre court.