Incessant rain led to the abandonment of the third day’s play of the lone Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium on Wednesday.
As it rained heavily overnight, there were puddles in several parts of the ground, forcing the match officials to call off the day’s proceedings by 9 AM IST, citing a wet outfield.
While New Zealand players stayed back at the hotel, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott had a look at the surface, but he, too, left the venue after a brief conversation with the groundsmen. In contrast to the first couple of days, where only the pitch was covered, on Wednesday, the ground staff made it a point to cover almost the entire ground to avoid any further damage to the outfield.
After drawing flak over the last few days, the stadium authorities and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) brought covers from the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi last evening, while the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association sent a couple of super soppers to get the ground back in shape. However, with heavy rains, things were beyond anyone’s control.
While the ACB is hoping to have ‘at least 98 overs of play on day four if the weather clears up’, rain forecast persists. In case the match is eventually called off without a ball being bowled, it will be the eighth such occasion in the history of Test cricket.
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