New Delhi. What was feared in Hamilton finally happened. The third ODI match between India and New Zealand to be played at Seddon Park was lost due to heavy rain. After continuous rain, the umpires finally declared the match officially cancelled.
With the cancellation of this match, the Indian team has maintained a 2-0 lead in the five-match ODI series. This means that Team India cannot lose this series now. At the same time, the New Zealand team can now tie most of the series, but the road ahead will not be easy for them because many of their star players will now leave for preparations for the upcoming Test series.
The weather was bad right from the beginning of the match. The toss was delayed by almost two hours from its scheduled time, after which Indian captain Shubman Gill won the toss and decided to bowl first.
For this match of 40-40 overs, India did not make any changes in its playing-11, whereas there was one change in the New Zealand team. But as soon as the toss was over and the players were preparing to enter the field, suddenly it rained heavily. The ground staff had to hurriedly cover the entire field and pitch with covers.
Fans left the stadium before the cut-off time
In the afternoon the rain became so heavy that the hopes of holding the 20 over Duckworth-Lewis match were also dashed. It would have taken at least 30 to 40 minutes to dry the ground, but the water raining from the sky showed no signs of stopping.
The cut-off time for the 20-over match was set at 12:32 pm Indian time (8:02 pm local time), but seeing the situation worsening, disappointed fans started leaving the stadium even before the cut-off time and it was decided to cancel the match. The Indian team now has to play the fourth ODI match against New Zealand on Friday, November 13 at Mount Maunganui.
Playing eleven of both the teams
New Zealand (Playing XI): Will Young, Tim Seifert, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Matthew Fisher.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Naman Dheer, Anshul Kamboj, Aaqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh.
India's full squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Naman Dheer, Anshul Kamboj, Aaqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mohammed Siraj, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper) and Kuldeep Yadav.
New Zealand's full squad: Mitchell Santner (captain), Michael Bracewell, Nick Kelly, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Will Young, Blair Tickner and Henry Nicholls.