Opening day of Afghanistan-New Zealand Test called off due to wet outfield

Report Opening day of Afghanistan-New Zealand Test called off due to wet outfield Despite a sunny day, the drainage facilities could not dry out the outfield following overnight rain Ekanth 09-Sep-2024 • 11 mins ago Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott checks the ground with Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner • Associated Press {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","contentUrl":"https://img1.hscicdn.

com/image/upload/f_auto/lsci/db/PICTURES/CMS/387200/387239.4.jpg","caption":"Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott checks the ground with Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner"} The first day of Test match between New Zealand and Afghanistan at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to wet outfield.



The weather played fair all day, with the sun shining down on the ground. However, the drainage facilities could not dry out the playing area in its entirety, leaving the teams having to wait another day to begin their first ever Test encounter. There has been continuous rain over the past few days and the big challenge according to chief curator Amit Sharma was to keep the outfield ready if rains continued.

However on Monday, there was not a single cover on the ground all day and the super-soppers were at work. But the issue was the wet outfield and the run-up area for the bowlers which never deemed fit enough for the toss to take place. Multiple inspections took place, with the last one scheduled at 4.

30pm, local time, but stumps was called at 4.05 pm. The toss has been scheduled for 9am tomorrow and the remaining four days will have 98 overs each with an early start at 9.

30am, instead of 10am. Related Greater Noida under the weather ahead of Test debut With day one already called off, both teams will hope that the rains and moderate thunderstorms, that have been forecast for the week, stay away. The match is not part of the World Test Championship cycle but gives New Zealand an opportunity to acclimatise to subcontinental conditions with two Test series, against Sri Lanka and India lined up in the next couple of months.

Afghanistan have played two one-off Tests in this year so far, both in different countries against different opponents, and are looking for their first win since 2021 . Afghanistan New Zealand Afghanistan vs New Zealand Ekanth is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo.