Cricket World Cup 2019: Rain continues to haunt tournament as New Zealand v India match washed out
The no results at the World Cup are starting to pile up after wet weather forced the abandonment of the much-awaited New Zealand-India showdown.
India and New Zealand were awarded a point each after persistent rain in Nottingham forced the abandonment of their match - the fourth no result of this World Cup so far.
After several inspections the umpires finally called the game at Trent Bridge off at 11pm (EST).
The tournament in England and Wales started in dry conditions but three of the past four matches have failed to produce a result.
New Zealand top the table with seven points after three wins and a no result while India are third on five points, with two wins and one point.
“Obviously you turn up hoping to compete for two points but we’ve been here for four days and not seen any sun so it’s no surprise,” said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.
“They will get some sun at some point but not on our trip here. With training indoors you just try and get what you need out of it. It’s not ideal but having a bit of time off is also important in these competitions.
“We have a break now, which is interesting at this point in the tournament but it’s a good chance for guys to freshen up and look forward to our next challenge.”
India captain Virat Kohli said: “The outfield was not suitable for play. Especially as it’s so early in the tournament, you don’t want an injury at this stage.
“It’s unfortunate. You cannot control the weather but a point isn’t bad at this stage given we already have two wins.”
The International Cricket Council has faced criticism over the lack of reserve days in the group stage but said having them for every match would be “extremely complex”.
New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said it was unfortunate for tournament organisers to lose four games to rain out of just 18 matches so far in the round-robin event.
“Reserve days are going to be a logistical nightmare, probably the ICC has made that fairly well known,” Stead said.
“Unfortunately it’s a bit of an anomaly the amount of days we have lost to rain - the biggest amount of days lost in World Cups ever.
“It’s a bit of bad luck. It can rain anywhere in the world. My first tour was in Dubai and it rained in the desert.”
The 47-year-old coach said New Zealand were adaptable enough to keep their momentum going despite the bad weather, which has forced them to train indoors.
“South Africa is next on the agenda for us, so we have to let this one go very quickly and work on that,” he said.
The Kiwis, runners-up at the 2015 World Cup, will play the Proteas next week in Birmingham.
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