Persistent rain forces cancellation of one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand

The historic first Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand ended in disappointment as the match was abandoned without a single ball being bowled. This rare occurrence marked only the eighth time in Test history that a game has been called off in this manner, with the last instance taking place in 1998.

There was an air of inevitability around the call after there was no play in the first four days and heavy rains ended the last two as early as 9.15am. The rain returned on the fifth morning, prompting the umpires to pull the plug at 8.45am.

The clouds hung low and the covers were drenched yet again at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground. A pool of water had formed near one of the boundaries and a few puddles were scattered across the uncovered grass in the outfield.

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The match was subject to weather concerns even before the opening day. When there was no play on the first two days despite the weather being sunny during playing hours, the outfield and the preparedness of the venue came under the scanner.

Apart from the New Zealand players getting a couple of hours of practice in a net next to the pitch on the second afternoon, there was no cricketing action in any form across five days. The ACB blamed the unseasonal rain for it - there has been over 1200mm of rain over the past week in Greater Noida.

Afghanistan's next assignment is the three-match ODI series against South Africa in Sharjah. New Zealand will now travel to Sri Lanka for two Tests, which are part of the World Test Championship. After that, they will face India in India in a three-Test series. The Greater Noida Test, which was not part of the WTC, was supposed to help them acclimatise to the subcontinent conditions but it was not to be.