India’s tour of New Zealand started on a damp note as the first T20I match was abandoned due to persistent rain taking place at Sky Stadium, Wellington on 18 November 2022. Both India and New Zealand played footvolley with rain playing a spoilsport.
The toss did not take place as the umpires called off play before the allocated time of 2.15 PM IST. It was a disappointing start to the series as both India and New Zealand would be starting fresh after heartbreak in the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 played in Australia.
The Indian team will be led by Hardik Pandya while young players like Shubman Gill and other would be getting a chance to represent in the shortest format. The Men in Blue will be without their star players like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Mohammed Shami.
🚨 UPDATE from Wellington 🚨
Both captains shake hands as the first #NZvIND T20I is called off due to persistent rain.#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/MxqEvzw3OD
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 18, 2022
Both teams would look to make a winning start to the series. New Zealand will be captained by Kane Williamson. The match could begin as there were heavy rains made umpires abandon the first T20I of the series.
2nd T20I between India and New Zealand scheduled to take place on November 20
The series is now a two-match encounter. Both teams would now move to Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui on 20th November which is a sell-out.
India and New Zealand would be looking to showcase their skills in the second match to take lead in the series. It was a damp start as there were people coming to watch the opening encounter. The rain stopped a little bit but after some time, rain arrived and pelted down heavily.
The umpires called the two captains and the match was abandoned without a bowl being out. Both teams would look to take advantage in the next match to be played at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui on 20th November 2022.
The ground staff did not pull off the covers with Ravi Shastri, Murali Karthik, Harsha Bhogle and presenter Gaurav Kapur having umbrellas in their hands all time.
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