4.55pm That's it folks. It has been called off. Time eventually ran out on Sri Lanka's chances of winning the series. As soon as we got off the park with about 30 minutes left, it was always going to be dicey. So, we will go to the fifth ODI with NZ 2-1 up. It has been an utterly frustrating day with a steady drizzle persisting through much of the day, before we managed to squeeze in nine overs of entertaining cricket. That will be it from us at ESPNcricinfo for this game, but today's cricketing action is far from over. Until next time, ciao.

4.43pm More covers coming on. If the rain doesn't stop in 10 minutes from now, it'd be it for the day, I reckon.

Kevin: "@Ryan: One of the most common cliches in cricket "Nelson strikes again"."

4.40pm Just a light drizzle at the moment, but play cannot resume if there is discernible precipitation, however inconsequential it may be.

Harin: "This shouldn't be surprising to anyone. It either rains in Sri Lanka, or rains wherever the Sri Lankans go regardless of the history of the location "

Ryan rubs it in, "I can't get over Nelson of all places being the first game to be heavily disrupted by rain. It is statistically the sunniest place in New Zealand."

4.35pm Low-lying cloud, murky conditions and surrounding gloom in Nelson. Ah, how does it to feel to be in Cape Town?

4.23pm And the rain has got too heavy now. The covers rush on. We have just 32 minutes to spare (8 overs multiplied by 4 minutes). So this rain has to stop soon for us to have a chance but conditions have been cloudy and overcast all day.

Tim: "@Liam - if it's any consolation, Taylor and Nicholls are averaging infinity. "

Dickson: "So what happens if the game is abandoned? Does this count as a match played by everyone, or would the next game still be Henry Nicholls' fourth game for instance?" The former.

Liam: "KW is only averaging 12 across all formats this calendar year. Shock. Horror." -- Yikes!

end of over 915 runs

NZ: 75/3CRR: 8.33

Ross Taylor20 (14b 3x4)

Henry Nicholls4 (7b)

Jeffrey Vandersay 1-0-15-0

Milinda Siriwardana 2-0-11-0

8.6

Vandersay to Taylor, FOUR runs

the moisture not helping the legspinner. drags this short down leg. Taylor pummels the pull past short fine leg for four, not easy conditions to bowl but these are free runs for Taylor and NZ.

Spots of rain in the air again

8.5

Vandersay to Taylor, 2 runs

low full toss outside off, lots of flight. Thwacked to deep cover for a couple.

8.4

Vandersay to Taylor, FOUR runs

that is a freebie. Short down leg, all taylor needed to do was get some bat on it and that he did. Raced to the fine leg boundary

8.3

Vandersay to Taylor, FOUR runs

nicely played, goes to the boundary. Gets down early after picking his gap and executes perfectly, ramped the paddle sweep nicely to the fine leg boundary. Great batting this

8.2

•

Vandersay to Taylor, no run

flat down leg, Taylor finds fine leg. Should have been put away, missed opportunity

8.1

Vandersay to Nicholls, 1 run

short on off, Vandersay rocks back to belt a pull to deep midwicket

Legspin, Vandersay.

end of over 86 runs

NZ: 60/3CRR: 7.50

Ross Taylor6 (9b)

Henry Nicholls3 (6b)

Milinda Siriwardana 2-0-11-0

Dushmantha Chameera 3-0-32-1

7.6

•

Siriwardana to Taylor, no run

good length on off and middle, Taylor rocks back to punch back to the bowler

7.5

Siriwardana to Taylor, 2 runs

too short, too wide. Taylor finds the gap nicely through point for an easy couple. Good batting

7.4

Siriwardana to Nicholls, 1 run

7.3

•

Siriwardana to Nicholls, no run

drives towards cover

7.3

Siriwardana to Nicholls, 1 wide

what happened there? Completely slipped out of the hands. Umpire Billy calls it a no ball before changing to wide. Slips out his hands and bounces once on the pitch before bouncing two or three times in the adjacent pitch.

7.2

Siriwardana to Taylor, 1 run

overpitched on leg, Taylor drives to long-on for one

Mayura: "Matthews taken a lot of flak this tour for his captaincy, but he has definitely rotated the bowlers well today. "

7.1

Siriwardana to Nicholls, 1 run

short delivery outside off, skids onto the bat as Nicholls cuts to the sweeper cover

Mike: "That KW dismissal was very similar to the one in the WC final. I can't believe I'm daring to say this but does Williamson finally have a weakness?"

end of over 73 runs • 1 wicket

NZ: 54/3CRR: 7.71

Henry Nicholls1 (3b)

Ross Taylor3 (6b)

Dushmantha Chameera 3-0-32-1

Milinda Siriwardana 1-0-5-0

6.6

Chameera to Nicholls, 1 run

good end. Shortish length on off and middle, Nicholls gets high on his toes to nurdle towards mid-on for a quick single. Great over

6.5

•

Chameera to Nicholls, no run

overly full outside off but Nicholls opens up the face to steer to point

6.4

•

Chameera to Nicholls, no run

back of a length on off, blocked with a high elbow towards cover

Henry Nicholls

6.3

Chameera to Williamson, OUT

taken, KW goes now. Full delivery on middle, Williamson closes the bat-face, looking towards the midwicket region and gets a leading edge which lobs back to Chameera to take. Big wicket, KW walks back.

Kane Williamson c & b Chameera 12 (12b 1x4 0x6 15m) SR: 100

6.2

Chameera to Taylor, 1 run

shortish outside off, Taylor too cuts down to third man to get a run

6.1

Chameera to Williamson, 1 run

fullish on off, KW dabs it late to third man. Good option to produce a run

end of over 65 runs

NZ: 51/2CRR: 8.50

Kane Williamson11 (10b 1x4)

Ross Taylor2 (5b)

Milinda Siriwardana 1-0-5-0

Nuwan Kulasekara 1-0-4-1

5.6

Siriwardana to Williamson, 1 run

some flight on middle, Williamson races down to meet the ball as it pitched to drill to long-on

Read full commentary

Best performances - batters

Spike Graph

Wagon Zone

MJ Guptill

27 runs (14)

1 four3 sixes

Productive shot

cover drive

11 runs

1 four1 six

Control

79%

LRPL Taylor

20 runs (14)

3 fours0 six

Productive shot

pull

8 runs

2 fours0 six

Control

93%

Best performances - bowlers

KMDN Kulasekara

ECO

FTYFGSGS

OFFLEG

RHB


		1W

NLTC Perera

ECO

6.5

FTYFGSGS

OFFLEG

RHB

LEGOFF

LHB





		1W

View more stats

Match details

Saxton Oval, Nelson
Toss	Sri Lanka, elected to field first
Series	Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand
Season	2015/16
Series result	New Zealand led the 5-match series 2-1
Match number	ODI no. 3718
Hours of play (local time)	11.00 start, First Session 11.00-14.30 Interval 14.30-15.15, Second Session 15.15-18.45
Match days	2 January 2016 - day (50-over match)
Umpires	Billy Bowden Richard Illingworth
TV Umpire	Michael Gough
Reserve Umpire	Derek Walker
Match Referee	Andy Pycroft

Match Coverage

All Match News

New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 2015-16

Wisden's review of the fourth ODI, New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 2015-16

Rain ruins New Year's ODI in Nelson

A 24-over match had begun after an initial three-hour-and-forty-minute rain delay, but the teams could only get through nine overs before bad weather returned to wash out play

Young Sri Lanka's riposte set to continue

Sri Lanka found their groove four weeks into the New Zealand tour, and their reward may be a used Saxton Oval pitch that will offer a lot more turn for the fourth ODI

Instant answers to T20 questions

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New Zealand Innings

PLAYER NAME		R	B
MJ Guptill	lbw	27	14
TWM Latham	caught	9	8
KS Williamson	caught	12	12
LRPL Taylor	not out	20	14
HM Nicholls	not out	4	7
Extras	(nb 1, w 2)
Total	75(3 wkts; 9 ovs)

PLAYER NAME	O	R	W	Econ
PVD Chameera	3	32	1	10.66 (1 nb)
NLTC Perera	2	13	1	6.5
KMDN Kulasekara	1	4	1	4
TAM Siriwardana	2	11	0	5.5
JDF Vandersay	1	15	0	15

WKT	RUNS	PLAYERS
1st	37	Martin Guptill	Tom Latham
2nd	8	Martin Guptill	Kane Williamson
3rd	8	Ross Taylor	Kane Williamson
4th	22	Ross Taylor	Henry Nicholls

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