All four days of the one-off Test match between Afghanistan and New Zealand at the Greater Noida Sports Complex have been washed out without a ball getting bowled.
Afghanistan and New Zealand could create a dubious record come Friday (September 13) on Day 5 of their one-off Test match at the Greater Noida Sports Complex stadium. With Day 4 of the game also getting washed out without a ball being bowled on Thursday morning, Afghanistan and New Zealand could set an unwanted record on the final day of the game.
Afghanistan and New Zealand could break a 91 year old record of a Test match in Asia getting abandoned without a ball getting bowled in any of the five days. During this period, 730 Test matches have taken place and none of them have witnessed a similar fate.
The closest any team has come was back in Pakistan in 1998 when entire Test was abandoned without a single ball getting bowled in Faisalabad due to fog. The toss was scheduled to take place at 9am but persistent rain continued to play spoilsport as the match officials called off the day’s play for the fourth day in succession.
Day 1 – Called Off.
Day 2 – Called Off.
Day 3 – Called Off.
Day 4 – Called Off.– The story of the Afghanistan Vs New Zealand Test match in Noida. pic.twitter.com/Nwtq6KigHL
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 12, 2024
“The fourth day of the only Test match between Afghanistan and New Zealand teams is also not going to be played due to continued rainfall,” the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said in a statement on Thursday.
“The decision about the start of the game tomorrow morning at 8:00 will be made after the stadium assessment,” the ACB added.
Not a single ball has been bowled across four days with the wet outfield preventing any action on the opening two days, raising serious questions over the preparedness of the venue to host the match. Only seven matches in the history of Test cricket have been abandoned without a ball being bowled.
The last time it happened was in the match between New Zealand and India at Dunedin in 1998, which was outside Asia. Afghanistan are the hosts of the game and had picked the venue due to logistical reasons.
It is their 10th match since receiving Test status from ICC in 2017. Afghanistan are playing against New Zealand in the Test format for the first time. However, this match is not a part of the ICC’s World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
New Zealand will fly out to Sri Lanka next for a two-Test series before returning to India for three Tests, starting on October 16 at Bengaluru.
