Due to rain and wet outfield, the only cricket test between Afghanistan and New Zealand has been declared cancelled without a ball being bowled. The outfield was wet on the first two days, which also raised questions on the readiness of this ground to host international matches. By the fourth day of the match, not a single ball could be bowled in the match, due to which it was decided to cancel the match. This is the eighth time in the history of Test cricket that a Test match has been cancelled without a ball being bowled due to rain.
The toss between the two teams was scheduled for Thursday at 9 am but due to heavy rain, the match had to be cancelled on the fourth day as well. In the history of Test cricket, out of 2549 Tests, there have been eight matches that have been cancelled without a single ball being bowled. New Zealand’s Dunedin Test against India in 1998 was also cancelled in a similar fashion due to rain. In the history of Test cricket, the Ashes match between Australia and England was cancelled three times in 1890, 1938 and 1970 without a ball being bowled. After this, New Zealand and Pakistan match (1989), England vs West Indies (1990), Pakistan vs Zimbabwe (1998) are part of this list.
Afghanistan was the host of this match, which does not get a chance to play against the top teams. This was its tenth Test after getting the status of a Test team from the ICC in 2017. This Test was not a part of the ICC World Championship cycle. The New Zealand team will now play a two-Test series in Sri Lanka, after which a three-Test series will be played in India from October 16.