South Africa v New Zealand, 2016

At Durban, August 19-23, 2016. Drawn. Toss: South Africa.
The meteorologists suggested there was nothing wrong with staging a Test in the Durban winter. But the decision backfired when a thunderstorm soaked Kingsmead on the second afternoon, and no further play was possible. The mistake lay not in the scheduling, but in the covering. It is not usual practice to protect the entire outfield in South Africa - but it should have been done on this occasion, and could have been achieved with help from local clubs.

This was easily the earliest that a Test match had been played in the South African season: the first of the 1902-03 series against Australia - on their way back from England - had started in Johannesburg on October 11. The match was developing nicely when the storm struck. There was plenty of life in the pitch, which meant South Africa's total of 263 was better than it looked. Left-armers Boult and Wagner took three wickets apiece, while Amla top-scored with 53, which included ten fours. A wicket was rarely far away: the longest partnership lasted 22.4 overs, between du Plessis, captaining for the first time in a Test, and Bavuma, who survived for nearly two and a half hours.

When New Zealand's innings finally started, it was a fast bowler's paradise: low thundery clouds, the floodlights straining to pierce the gloom, and the Durban tide at its highest. The ball swung exotically. Steyn soon removed both openers, but Williamson and Taylor toughed it out before bad light intervened. When the storm arrived, it drenched an outfield which had been deeply scarified less than two months earlier. On the third morning the square and its immediate surrounds, including the run-ups, were bone dry under the covers - but large are