India, New Zealand share points after another washout

Nottingham (PTI): The frustrating English weather finally caught up with the Indian team as their third World Cup game against New Zealand was called off without a ball being bowled here on Thursday.

New Zealand have seven points from four games while India now have five from three with the next game against Pakistan in Manchester on Sunday. Incidentally, the weather Gods are threatening to play spoilsport over there too.

The toss was delayed due to inclement weather and in the end it never took place. An inspection was to happen at 3 pm IST, the scheduled start time, but was put off after it started raining again. The outfield was pretty wet after heavy showers in the past two days.

The umpires had one last inspection at 7:30pm IST before taking the decision to abandon the match. This was the fourth such game in the ongoing tournament that has not yielded any result, something that will certainly increase ICC's worry. While both the teams share a point each, the practical difficulties of not having a reserve day as stated by the ICC CEO David Richardson is certainly leaving the fans, especially the Indians high and dry.

Indian captain Virak Kohli said it was a sensible decision to call off the match. "Sensible decision to not play, given the outfield wasn't fully fit (sic). One point not a bad thing for sides that have won all their games so far. So we'll take it," he said.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said it was not an ideal situation but in a way a good chance for the players to get some rest. "(It has) been about four days and we haven't seen the sun, so this doesn't surprise us. It's not ideal, but little bit of time off is also important. We have some break now midway through, so it's a good chance for the guys to freshen up and look forward to the next challenge," he said.

The ICC refunds tickets if a single ball is not bowled but the hundreds of fans who have bought overpriced tickets from a third party are certain to lose money. "I have paid 800 GBP (more than 70k INR) for a ticket. I am losing a lot of money. The black market rate for a Pakistan game is 2000 GBP. I can't afford that," said a software engineer who has come all the way from Singapore. The broadcasters, however, can heave a sigh of relief as all the matches are insured and they can make up for losses.