IND vs NZ ODI: Shubman Gill Frustrated by Rain
Relentless rain disrupted play in the third ODI between India and New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Tuesday. Despite India’s skipper Shubman Gill winning the toss, the match faced multiple delays due to persistent rainfall. This has been a recurring issue since the series began on November 4.
India currently leads the series 2-0. In the first ODI, they won by five wickets after rain-interrupted play in Auckland. In the second game in Wellington, India was chasing New Zealand’s target of 134 and had reached 113/7 in 26 overs when rain halted play. India eventually won by four runs via the Duckworth-Lewis Method (DLS).
On Tuesday, heavy rain forced the teams indoors before the match. The toss, originally scheduled for 7 AM IST, was delayed until 9 AM IST. Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to field first. This marked New Zealand’s seventh consecutive toss loss in this tour across five T20Is and three ODIs.
The match was initially set to start at 7:30 AM IST but has been repeatedly postponed due to rain. At the time of writing, umpires were scheduled to inspect the pitch at 5:30 PM local time (10 AM IST). The pitch remained fully covered under tarps.
During the toss, light drizzle fell with dark clouds overhead. Earlier inspections had already occurred multiple times as rain kept returning. Shubman Gill expressed frustration over the unpredictable weather conditions. He stated, “It’s quite frustrating on and off. Hopefully, if it rains, it continues, or if not, it stops.” He added that India aims to repeat their strong performances from previous matches.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner noted that 180 runs might be a good score on the pitch, which had been under covers for an extended period. He mentioned one change in their lineup: Matthew Fisher replacing Todd Tickner.
India’s XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (w), Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh.
New Zealand’s XI: Will Young, Tim Seifert, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Matthew Fisher.