Afghanistan vs New Zealand One-Off Test match becomes the 1st Test in Asia to be abandoned without a ball bowled

The one-off Test match between New Zealand and Afghanistan has been abandoned without a ball being bowled due to continuous rain over five days.

For five consecutive days, rain and a wet outfield prevented any play, not even the toss, at the Greater Noida Sports Complex in Uttar Pradesh.

This was the first-ever Test between the New Zealand national cricket team and the Afghan national cricket team.

However, continuous rain and lackluster drainage and drying facilities prevented any play. This match was also set to be Afghanistan's first Test at their adopted home ground in Noida.

The Afghanistan vs New Zealand Test Has Been Called Off

Officials decided to abandon the Test match on Friday, September 13, after inspecting the field and finding puddles of water in the uncovered areas of the outfield.

The match has been abandoned without any action throughout the five days, and even the toss did not take place.

"It is still raining in Greater Noida and due to frequent rains, the 5th and final day of the Afghanistan vs New Zealand Test has been called off by the match officials," the Afghanistan Cricket Board said in a statement.

The first two days of the Test match were canceled due to a wet outfield at the venue in Noida. The remaining three days were washed out by persistent rain.

The washout was disappointing for both teams, especially Afghanistan, who were eager to face a higher-ranked team, New Zealand.

List Of Abandoned Test Matches:

This was not the first time a Test match was called off without a ball being bowled. Seven matches were previously abandoned similarly, with the most recent instance occurring in 1998. Coincidentally, that match also involved New Zealand, who were set to take on India in Dunedin.

This is the first time a Test match in India has been completely abandoned without play. The relentless rain over the last two weeks, coupled with inadequate ground cover, poor drainage, and a lack of trained staff, led to the cancellation.

Here’s the full list:

The choice of Greater Noida as the venue faced criticism because it mainly hosts corporate events and lacks adequate infrastructure for handling rain, such as proper covers and super-soppers.

“The BCCI offered us three venues – Kanpur, Bengaluru, and this one. We chose to play at Greater Noida as it was most convenient in terms of logistics. It was a two-hour drive from Delhi airport,” said Afghanistan Cricket Board’s international cricket manager Menhajuddin Raz told reporters.

Following the abandoned Test match, both teams have fixtures. Afghanistan will travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to host South Africa for three ODIs next week. Meanwhile, New Zealand will head to Sri Lanka for two Tests before returning to India for three more Tests in October.

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