New Zealand v Sri Lanka: rain washes out day one in Christchurch
Thursday 17 November 2016 05:10, UK
The opening day of the first Test between New Zealand and Pakistan was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Persistent rain in the Christchurch area meant the umpires called play off around 4pm local time.
Consequently, play will begin half an hour earlier on each of the remaining four days of the Test match (9.30pm GMT).
The covers remained on the pitch for almost the entire day meaning the toss will take place before the start of play on day two.
The weather forecast is set to improve over the weekend and the umpires are confident they will be able to make up much of the time lost on day one.
The loss of play adds to the frustration of Misbah-ul-Haq's squad who have yet to take to the middle on the tour after their only warm-up match was also washed out.
Pakistan can return to the top of the ICC Test rankings with a series win in New Zealand and if results go their way by England doing them a favour in India.
After Christchurch the teams go to Hamilton for the Second Test next Friday.
Watch day two of the first Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka live on Sky Sports 3 from 9.30pm on Thursday.
