Afghanistan-New Zealand Greater Noida match becomes first Test to be abandoned due to rain in Asia

The Afghanistan-New Zealand meeting in Greater Noida on Friday became the first Test in 730 matches and 91 years to be abandoned due to rain in Asia.

With an intense downpour marring the opening day on Monday and an under-par outfield worsening woes over the following days, the ground was deemed unfit for play on all four previous days. The final decision to abandon the game was made official on Day 5 morning, depriving Afghanistan of game time in their third Test in India, having previously twice hosted Tests in Dehradun and Lucknow in 2019 against Ireland and West Indies respectively.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board had confirmed that the BCCI, the home cricket board, had offered multiple venues before they chose to zero in on Greater Noida due to its proximity to both Delhi and Kabul.

While the Afghans will move to the UAE to host South Africa for three ODIs next week, New Zealand will travel to Sri Lanka for two Tests before returning to India to play three more Test matches in October.

Incidentally, only seven of the previous 2548 Test matches have been abandoned without a single ball being bowled. The first three such instances are marked Australia and England in the Ashes in 1890, 1938 and 1970 – twice in London and once in Melbourne. The other four instances have occurred between 1989 and 1998 and none have taken place in the 21st century.

The last two abandoned Tests took place on consecutive days in December 1998. A Pakistan-Zimbabwe Test in Faisalabad was called off due to intense fog while persistent rain in Dunedin abandoned a New Zealand-India Test the following day.

List of abandoned Tests:

Test No: 34 – Australia vs England
25-08-1890: Old Trafford, Manchester

Test No: 264 – Australia vs England
08-07-1938: Old Trafford, Manchester

Test No: 675 – Australia vs England
31-12-1970: Melbourne Cricket Ground

Test No: 1113 – New Zealand vs Pakistan
03-02-1989: Carisbrook, Dunedin

Test No: 1140 – England vs West Indies
10-03-1990: Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana

Test No: 1434 – Pakistan vs Zimbabwe
17-12-1998 Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

Test No: 1434 – New Zealand vs India
18-12-1998: Carisbrook, Dunedin

Test No: 2549 – Afghanistan v New Zealand
13-09-2024: Greater Noida

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