Cricket: Summer starts on damp note for Black Caps as India head home

Kane Williamson's side won a wet ODI series but were far from satisfied. Photo / photosport.nz

Umbrellas took precedence over sunglasses and the most common result was no result — this has hardly been a summer to remember for the Black Caps.

And unfortunately for fans, there are few memories to come, because the team will now be absent from these shores for the next 11 weeks.

Weather was the only winner as India’s tour of New Zealand ended in apt fashion on Wednesday night, with yet another washout concluding the Black Caps’ home programme until February.

This will be the first summer in a decade during which the Black Caps are inactive in their own conditions in December and January — at least allowing holidaymakers more time in the backyard to play some cricket of their own.

The White Ferns will fill some of that wide-open window, starting a three-match T20 series against Bangladesh at Hagley Oval tonight before facing the same opposition for three ODIs.

But after that tour concludes on December 17, cricket will be missing from our screens during daylight hours for a couple of months.

Little could be done about the dearth of home action. The Black Caps will instead be fulfilling the obligation they assumed to tour Pakistan after security concerns last September saw them abandon their first visit to the country in 18 years.

The first of two tests starts in Karachi on December 27 — if it goes the distance the match may be decided as the calendar ticks over to 2023 in New Zealand — before the sides contest three ODIs in January.

The Black Caps will then head to India for six limited-overs matches before finally returning home to play two tests against England, the summer staple of red-ball cricket making a belated appearance with most supporters back to work.

In the intervening period, the Black Caps’ inactivity will be felt even more keenly by fans after the anti-climactic nature of the clash with India.

The T20 series began in ominous fashion, with the first game in Wellington washed out without a ball bowled. Suryakumar Yadav‘s superb century in the second match at Bay Oval gave India the victory that would secure a 1-0 series triumph, with the third match in Napier ending in a DLS tie after the rain returned.

That pattern continued in the 50-over format, after Tom Latham earned player of the series with an unbeaten ton in the opener at Eden Park. A sodden Seddon Park saw only 12.5 overs of play in the second game, before the Black Caps were denied another win when the heavens opened at Hagley Oval with two more overs needed to constitute an official match.

“The weather was frustrating to cut it short,” said skipper Kane Williamson. “We know the talent that India possess so it was certainly shaping up to be a really good series after that first match. It was a shame to have so much of it affected.”

The end of the third ODI was particularly frustrating for the Black Caps, who had been cruising towards their target of 220. After Adam Milne (3-57) recorded his second-best ODI figures and Daryl Mitchell (3-25) collected a career-best return, a streaky half-century from Finn Allen (57 off 54) had his side on 104-1 in 18 overs.

The result ensured New Zealand continued an unbeaten home run, having avoided an ODI defeat in this country since the start of 2019. But looking ahead to next year’s World Cup in India, the conditions denied Gary Stead a better chance to assess his options.

“It would’ve been nice to play more cricket,” the coach said. “It’s always tough when it’s so affected by rain because you then miss out on the opportunities to see some players that we probably wanted to see a little bit more of.”