New Zealand's ODI against Australia abandoned due to rain
Thursday 2 February 2017 06:44, UK
Australia's chances of winning their one-day international series against New Zealand were ended by the weather as the second one-day international in Napier was abandoned.
The Black Caps won the series opener in Auckland by six wickets but Australia's chances of levelling the series before the third and final game in Hamilton were ended by a wet outfield.
Umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Chris Brown held a series of inspections, but the ground failed to dry out and when the rain returned at 6.45pm local time the game was called off without the toss having taken place.
The decision was met with resigned frustration from the large crowd, who had sat patiently for hours hoping to see some action, particularly since the rain had actually stopped about 15 minutes before the scheduled start of play at 2pm.
Ground staff removed the covers from the square about an hour later and begun preparing the surface while the players started warming up with a 37-over game scheduled to begin at 4.45pm.
However, the warm-ups caused water to seep to the surface, with Australia captain Aaron Finch unearthing a large divot with minimal effort, forcing Dharmasena and Brown to deem conditions still unsuitable for play.
After two further inspections, the large crowd grew increasingly restless and broke into an ironic slow handclap with cries of "hurry up" when there was no official announcement on when play was likely to begin.
A final inspection was made at 6.30pm and the decision to abandon the contest was confirmed 15 minutes later.
The third and final match of the series is at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday. New Zealand hold a 1-0 lead after winning the first game in Auckland on Monday by six runs.
