Ground staff clear water from Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Photo / Photosport
The first day of New Zealand's summer of cricket proved a washout.
Rain enveloped Christchurch early this morning and wiped out the opening day of the first test against Pakistan at Hagley Oval.
The call off came at 4pm after a day of sweeping rain interspersed with sunny periods. The
umpires gave every chance for play, leaving a final check as late as possible, but to no avail.
The test is now down to a four-day contest at best, with the weather forecast for Christchurch tomorrow expected to get better through the day, and days three, four and five tipped to be sunny.
New Zealand are coming off four successive test losses, one against South Africa at Centurion and three in India while Pakistan are bidding to regain their No 1 test ranking, which they surrendered to India last month.
The last time the teams met in a test was late in 2014 in the United Arab Emirates in a series which was drawn 1-1.
