DURBAN: Play was abandoned because of a wet outfield without a ball being bowled on the third day of the first Test between South Africa and New Zealand on Sunday.

Rain on Saturday had curtailed play from just before the end of the first session with New Zealand 15 for two in reply to their hosts’ first innings score of 263.

There was a much heavier fall of rain overnight which left several wet patches on the outfield at Kingsmead that the English umpires Ian Gould and Richard Illingworth wanted dried out.

They had two separate inspections at 12:00pm and 2:00pm local time but decided soft patches caused by the rain posed a danger to the players.

Play will start 30 minutes earlier on Monday at 9.30am local time, the umpires said.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2016