WELLINGTON: Heavy rain in Wellington forced the cancellation of the opening Twenty20 match between New Zealand and India on Friday without a ball being bowled.

The washout means the teams next meet in the second scheduled Twenty20 game in Mount Maunganui on Sunday at 7:30pm (0630GMT) with the third tie on November 22 in Napier.

The Blacks Caps then host India for three One-day Internationals in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch.

Both sides are looking to bounce back after being knocked out of last week’s semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup.

India have rested stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the New Zealand tour while head coach Rahul Dravid also sits out, with VVS Laxman, head of India’s National Cricket Academy, in charge.

Suryakumar Yadav, India’s new batting sensation, and pace bowler Umran Malik are included in the India squad.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya captains the Twenty20 side with Shikhar Dhawan taking over as skipper for the One-day Inter­nationals.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2022