Sri Lanka’s weather has had the final say in New Zealand’s first match of the Twenty20 World Cup Super Eight stage, after Sunday’s clash with Pakistan was washed out without a ball bowled.
Rain started to fall as the two captains walked to the middle for the toss at Colombo’sR. Premadasa Stadium, and didn’t relent before the umpires called the game off just over two hours after the scheduled start.
Pakistan’s captain Salman Ali Agha had won the toss and elected to bat, a questionable decision given the advantage of chasing a target with rain in the air.
However, despite Black Caps skipper Mitchell Santner losing his fourth toss in succession at this year’s World Cup, and New Zealand’s fifth in a row after Daryl Mitchell filled in against Canada, there was no chance for either side to show their wares as the Super Eights began.
The Black Caps had made changes in the bowling ranks, with Lockie Ferguson returning from paternity leave, and Ish Sodhi included, in place of Kyle Jamieson and Jacob Duffy.
Santner also returned from the illness that ruled him out against Canada, in place of Cole McConchie.
With the Black Caps also grouped alongside England and co-hosts Sri Lanka, the washout sees New Zealand at the very least bank a point towards their Super Eight standings, in a format where two defeats will likely mean exiting the tournament.
The other three teams in New Zealand’s group have either spent their World Cup so far based in Sri Lanka, or having played a warm-up series there before the tournament began.
New Zealand will return to the same venue on Thursday morning (NZ time), against tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.
