First India vs NZ T20I abandoned

NEW DELHI: The first T20I of the three-match series between India and New Zealand was washed out due to incessant rain in Wellington on Friday.

The match was called off at 8.52 pm local time, nearly an hour before the cut-off time of 9:46 pm for a five-over-a-side match.

The next match is scheduled for Sunday in Mount Maunganui before the teams move to Napier for the final T20I. It will be followed by a three-match ODI series.

Both teams made semi-final exits at the T20 World Cup in Australia. While India were ousted by eventual champions England, New Zealand lost to

Pakistan.

India have rested most of the players who played at the World Cup, including skipper Rohit Sharma, opener KL Rahul and Virat Kohli.

A young bunch featuring the likes of Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson, Umran Malik and Shreyas Iyer will be eager to prove their mettle in New Zealand as India begin the rebuilding process under stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya.

“Boys were quite excited to play. New Zealand is a great country, a great place to play. Unfortunate to not get a game. A lot of people came quite early as well, we were excited but this is something we as professional cricketers need to accept,” Pandya said.