New Zealand have now endured six consecutive days of Test cricket in India without a ball being bowled. After the debacle in Greater Noida against Afghanistan, the weather, rather than the pitch, was to blame this time. The first day of the opening Test in Bengaluru was washed out as the city continued to experience a week of rain.
There was early hope, with Bengaluru escaping the heavy downpours forecasted. However, a persistent drizzle—sometimes so light it wouldn’t have interrupted play if the game had started—continued throughout the day. A heavy shower at 2:30 pm dashed any hopes of a toss on day one. With the match now reduced to four days or fewer, the follow-on target for a team will drop from 200 to 150 runs.
After the heavy rain that soaked the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the lead-up to the Test, hopes were pinned on the venue’s sub-air drainage system, which can reportedly drain 10,000 liters of water per minute. However, another issue arose: due to the rain the day before the match, the Hawk-Eye system couldn’t be formatted, a process that takes an hour and a half. That became irrelevant, though, as a heavy downpour at 2:30 pm sealed the fate of day one. Authorities now hope to complete the Hawk-Eye setup before day two, although rain is again in the forecast.
To compensate for lost time, play on the remaining four days will start 15 minutes early and end 15 minutes late, aiming to bowl 98 overs daily. An additional half-hour can also be used to make up for slow over-rates.
