The fifth and final day of play in the Afghanistan v New Zealand Test match has been abandoned without a ball bowled, making this the first men's Test of the century to suffer such a fate.
Afghanistan v New Zealand Test match abandoned without toss
In what can only be described as the natural conclusion to events over the past four days at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium in Greater Noida, the one-off Test match between Afghanistan and New Zealand has been abandoned, without so much as a toss taking place.
Overnight rain on Friday morning (September 13) meant that it was a mere formality that day five of the match also had to be called off, as early as 8:45am local time. Days three and four of the match had also been abandoned due to heavy rain overnight.
Read more: ACB official explains why Greater Noida was picked as Test venue
While there was limited rain during the match timings on days one and two, drainage facilities at the ground proved problematic when it came to dealing with water damage, and the result was that no play was possible on those days either. Prior to day one, Afghan batter Ibrahim Zadran had also suffered an ankle injury after slipping on the turf in training.
The abandonment of the match brings an end to a sorry situation, which should rather have been a historic first-ever Test match between these two teams. New Zealand will now fly to Sri Lanka for their two-Test series in the island nation, while Afghanistan will move on to Sharjah for an ODI series against South Africa.
Afghanistan-New Zealand Test abandonment the first of the century
There was still history created, despite the match not taking place. In being abandoned without a ball bowled, this match became the first men's Test of this century to suffer such a fate. It is the eighth one in men's Test history overall, with two women's Test matches having been abandoned before – Australia v England in North Sydney, 1958 and England v India in Shenley, 2002.
No Shoriful, but Bangladesh include four fast bowlers in squad for India Tests#INDvBAN
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 12, 2024
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The last time a men's Test match was called off without a ball being bowled was in 1998. Pakistan v Zimbabwe in Faisalabad and New Zealand v India in Dunedin were scheduled to start on December 17 & December 18 respectively but were both called off on the same day – December 20.
The full list of men's Test matches to be abandoned without a ball bowled is as follows.
- England v Australia, Manchester 1890
- England v Australia, Manchester 1938
- Australia v England, Melbourne 1970
- New Zealand v Pakistan, Dunedin 1989
- West Indies v England, Georgetown 1990
- Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Faisalabad 1998
- New Zealand v India, Dunedin 1998
- Afghanistan v New Zealand, Greater Noida 2024
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