Nottingham: The much-awaited India-New Zealand game in the ICC World Cup was abandoned due to rains without a ball being bowled at the Trent Bridge ground here Thursday.
Both the teams had come to the ground with the hopes that the rains will cease. But that never happened. The ground staff made a Herculean effort to dry the ground using super-soppers and other equipment. However, umpire Paul Reiffel declared the ground to ‘dangerous’ to play after the final inspection at around 19.35 hours (IST).
This is the fourth game of this World cup which has been washed out. It means that a record of sorts has been created. Before the 2019 World Cup, there were only two matches that have been abandoned without a ball being bowled in a single edition of the tournament.
India and New Zealand had to be satisfied with one point each. However, both skippers Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson said that they were expecting such a scenario.
“Sensible decision to not play, given the outfield wasn’t fully fit,” said Kohli after the game was called off. One point not a bad thing for sides that have won all their games so far. So we’ll take it.”
Talking about the marquee clash Sunday against arch rivals Pakistan, the Indian skipper said it is all about having a ‘calm mindset’ and ‘executing’ the game plan properly.
“It’s (the rivalry) been competitive for years, it’s a marquee event all over the world. It is an honour to be a part of the big game. It brings out the best in all of us. Shikhar will be in a plaster for a couple of weeks, but he’s motivated so we wanted to keep him back,” said the Indian skipper.
Agencies