Hamilton clash washed out
The second ODI between the Black Caps and India on Sunday was washed out at a sodden Seddon Park.
Only 12.5 overs of play was possible - coming in two spells sandwiching a rain delay of almost four hours - before the umpires finally called off the match shortly after 8pm.
The no result left the Black Caps holding a 1-0 lead in the three-match series following their stunning sevenwicket victory at Eden Park on Friday, with the third encounter on Wednesday at Hagley Oval.
Play started on time in Hamilton but rain was always in the forecast and, after Kane Williamson had again won the toss and again opted to bowl, the heavens first opened near the end of the fifth over with India 22-0.
The rain soon became heavy as the ground emptied out, save for a few hardly souls clustered under umbrellas. Those fans seemed to have been rewarded for their patience when hours later play finally resumed following several false starts, with the aim of completing a match consisting of 29 overs a side.
The onus was on India to immediate accelerate and it took only two balls before the Black Caps made a breakthrough as Matt Henry had Shikhar Dhawan caught at mid-on.
That saw Suryakumar Yadav promoted and produced a big cheer from the sparse but noisy pro-indian crowd that remained, with fans hoping the destructive batsman would replicate his heroics from the rain-interrupted T20 series claimed 1-0 by the tourists.
Yadav soon brought out the party tricks, reverse-sweeping for six in the 12th over from Michael Bracewell, who had come into the home side in place of Adam Milne for his first action since starring in the T20 triseries before the World Cup.
But that proved a rare highlight as, after only eight overs, the rain returned with India on 89-1 and this time remained.