India vs New Zealand WTC Final: Day 4 called off due to rain

India vs New Zealand World Test Championship Final 2021, Day 4 Live Streaming: Get the live cricket score updates between NZ vs IND from Southampton.

Updated : Jun 22, 2021 13:24 IST

Light showers continue to delay play in the second session on day 4 of the WTC final at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
Light showers continue to delay play in the second session on day 4 of the WTC final at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
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Light showers continue to delay play in the second session on day 4 of the WTC final at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.

Hello and welcome to Sportstar's LIVE coverage of Day 4 of the World Test Championship Final between India and New Zealand. This is Lalith Kalidas bringing you all the updates as action unfurls in Southampton.


07:30p,m IST: The inevitable has happened again. Play has been called off. The forecast for tomorrow and day after is more promising. So, hopefully we will get two full days of cricket in.


07:15pm IST:
The rain has picked up again and well, we'll leave it just there. No official announcement from the umpires yet.

06:43pm IST: Agree with KP, folks?

 

06:30pm IST: UPDATE: Rahane and Shami are out for a walk through a soaking wet outfield while most of the players continue to remain indoors. Light showers accompany the soppers who've been out there for quite a while now. All about an official announcement of close of play now.

06:00pm IST: No visible improvement in the conditions at the Bowl. Pretty dim out there and more rain is predicted through the afternoon. The outfield has taken a toll and the light showers continue to dampen hopes. Meanwhile, here are a few stories to keep up the spirit of the finale:


04:56pm IST: UPDATE:  The super soppers are up and running with rain thinning down. Lunch has been taken and the second session in all likelihood will witness a late start.

04:32pm IST: The first session is beyond us now. Visuals continue to show rain pelting down on the Bowl and it's all a matter of time before play is abandoned today.

04:06pm IST: "Freezing cold" at the Bowl says Nasser Hussain as the wait continues. A small of group of fans continue to wait  in the stands with a glimmer of hope.

03:53pm IST: Here's some news. Light rains continue but the officials are far from abandoning the day's play. Looks like a final call will be taken no sooner than mid-noon as rains are expected to slow down in the evening - which leaves us to wonder if there's enough time to clear the field and resume play today.

03:15pm IST: Meanwhile, Jamieson's having fun indoors on another skiddy surface.

 

03:00pm IST: BCCI: It continues to drizzle and we have to state the obvious. Start of play on Day 4 has been delayed.

02:30pm IST: It's a gloomy update . It has been raining through the night. Hardly any spectators have checked in for the game today. The umpires are expected to take an early call on whether to wait or call off play.

 

02:07pm IST: The unofficial weatherman of the series, Dinesh Karthik, speaks to the broadcasters from the venue and says: "The situation is grim. There is a light rain just enough to not allow play to start."

01:55pm IST: The groundsmen have added some extra covers around the pitch across the 30-yard circle as a precaution. Overcast conditions persist with rain yet to touchdown at the Bowl.

01:42pm IST: Well, here's the latest forecast for the day ahead of the 10:30am start at Southampton

 

01:30pm IST:  No conclusions yet. As things stand, we are 90 minutes away from Day 4.

 

01:15pm IST: Covers continue to stay on with thickish clouds lingering. No conclusions yet on the start. Despite the forecast, rain is yet to take over the Bowl.

12:40pm IST: Grim situations in the Bowl at the moment. The covers are on at the surfaces with overcast conditions. No rain yet but the forecast predicts a pounding on the outfield.

Day 3 Review

The Ultimate Test of patience bore fruit on Sunday as India and New Zealand eventually took the field to compete in 82 overs of classic Test match proceedings at the Ageas Bowl. With the clouds unrelenting but being kind enough to not interrupt the game, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane resumed batting for India in a bid to get a 250-plus total. With a gloomy weather forecast up ahead, that seemed like a reasonable target but Williamson's men came out sharper on day three.

Kyle Jamieson continued his domination over the Indian batsmen as his incisive bowling broke the resolve of the lower-order. A cracking spell to Virat Kohli early in the morning culminated with Jamieson trapping his RCB skipper plumb in front of the wicket. There was no looking back. With Rahane and Rishabh Pant gifting away their wickets, the Kiwis had an easy task up ahead in clearing the tail.

 

India bundled out for 217 and New Zealand sensed the opportunity was there for the taking if the openers put up a dead-bat parade against the moving ball. Conway and Latham, however, were not tested by the Indian pace trio of Ishant, Bumrah and Shami, with neither swing nor lateral movement on offer.

The duo were patient enough as Ishant and Shami continued bowling in accurate lines without much reward.  A sturdy combination of leaves outside the off-stump and gentle defence behind the incoming delivery helped them stitch an invaluable 70-run partnership to frustrate the Indians. Kohli's men were down and out before Ashwin came up with the breakthrough right after drinks in the final session as he foxed Latham with a gentle fuller delivery. India was right back in it as the clouds began to hover around once again late in the evening. Kohli's turn to Ishant for another spell dealt a blow for the Kiwis as Conway holed out after a gritty knock of 54 from 153 deliveries.

 

All the toil, however, seems to be in no favour for both sides as the forecast for day four on Monday expects a massive downpour at Southampton. All one can do is patiently wait, right until the closing moments of the Reserve Day on Wednesday to behold a fair result for these sides after a toil of two long years.

READ:

Sportstar correspondents Shayan Acharya, Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya and Ayan Acharya discuss their star players and big match-ups in the #WTCFinal.

Day 4, Southampton - Chances of rain - Acc. to UK Met department


WHAT THEY SAID


Squads:

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand   Playing XI: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling(w), Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Neil Wagner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult

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