WTC Final: India vs New Zealand: Persistent drizzle washes out toss, first session at Ageas Bowl on Day 1

“Update: Unfortunately there will be no play in the first session on Day 1 of the ICC World Test Championship final (WTC Final),” the BCCI tweeted confirming the worst fears.

Earlier, India’s spin spearhead R Ashwin shared the view of Ageas Bowl as it continued raining. “The camera also has a raincoat,” wrote Ashwin on Instagram while sharing a video of the ground.

His wife Prithi Narayanan also took to Twitter to share the video of the ground and wrote, “Pouring down #WTCFinal.” Rain is forecasted on all five days of the game, that’s why ICC has added a reserve day on June 23 but in case of a no-result, the Test Championship will be shared.

“The Reserve Day has been scheduled to ensure five full days of play, and it will only be used if lost playing time cannot be recovered through the normal provisions of making up lost time each day. There will be no additional day’s play if a positive result is not achieved after five full days of play and the match will be declared a draw in such a scenario,” the ICC had laid out in the playing conditions for the WTC Final.

The New Zealad team has also shared the picture of the drizzle and wet ground through their official Twitter account @Blackcaps, confirming that we need to wait for a while to see the action begin at the Ageas Bowl.

In fact, the local Hampshire authorities have issued a Yellow Warning for the day, meaning heavy rains and wind and there is the possibility of it being extended to couple of more days, casting a big shadow over the much-anticpated event.

If you may recall, the WTC Final was shifted to Southampton from Lord’s, the original venue, because the Ageas Bowl houses a hotel in its premises, making it easy to create a bio-secure bubble for the players, support staff and other officals in the wake of Covid 19 pandemic.