India vs New Zealand, 1st T20I at Visakhapatnam, , Sep 08 2012 - Match Result

The second T20I is in Chennai on Tuesday, starts at 7 pm ... if the rain permits. After that, we are off to Sri Lanka for the big one, the World Twenty20. Abhishek Purohit signing off for now. Cheers on this wet evening.

Right, that is the official end of that then

The Andhra Cricket Association have presented a memento to Yuvraj, who takes a walk around the ground acknowledging the emotion and the support from the fans

8.15 pm Reports coming in that the match has been called off. We'll wait for the official confirmation to be shown. A real dampener for the large crowd that came in, expecting to witness Yuvraj's return. There were still two hours left for the cut-off time of 10.15 pm, but it was too much of a watery ascent, with the rain still on

8 pm More of the same news, the bad one, that is

7.25 pm Still raining in Vizag

6.55 pm Yuvraj Singh to Ravi Shastri: "Never though I was going to come back and get a chance to play for India again. Kehte hain, dawa se badi dua hoti hai [It is said that prayer is mightier than medicine], I think that is the reason I am back. My body has responded very well, I have worked at the NCA for three months, played a couple of games at the academy, am confident of doing well."

PMD: "Yuvraj Singh - Right from the days I started imitating cricketers in my stand ups, you have always been my favourite for your style of play. Today the reason is even bigger, you are an inspiration for the ones who have fallen more than once in their life and stood up taller. Even if you get out on duck today or your bowling is smashed all over the park, your fighting spirit will motivate me for the rest of my life. September 8 is dedicated to you Phoenix! A true Punjabi, a true sher and a true sardar!"

dharmik: "@saurabh there are 2 warm up matches before the world cup against srilanka and pakistan. so he wont lack any practice."

6.50 pm Not looking good at the moment, lots of water on the covers, and more of it keeps tumbling down

Saurabh: "If it rains in both matches, it will be interesting to see the strategy whether Yuvraj is made directly to play in an event like world cup. Given the emotional country india is, i bet he will play."

6.40 pm The shower has weakened into a drizzle

6.35 pm Still coming down, the rain

Pradeep: "There is a possibility that 2nd T20 might also get affected by rain. It rained heavily yesterday in Chennai. Bad time for playing in south India." Bad time for playing anywhere in India. The Irani Cup game has been shifted out of Jaipur due to heavy rains

6.20 pm The cut-off time for the game is 10.15 pm for a five-over match to be played

6.15 pm The rain just got harder, there is a supersopper out in the middle, it is looking rather forlorn as it stands idle, helpless against all the water

If, and when, the rain stops, the groundstaff will require around 45 minutes to get the outfield ready for play

6.10 pm Yuvraj will have to wait for his comeback, it is pouring down in Visakhapatnam at the moment from dark, black skies. The ground, or most of it, is under covers

6.05 pm Welcome to our coverage of the first Twenty20 international between India and New Zealand in Visakhapatnam, on the east coast of India. The build-up to this game has been all about the return of Yuvraj Singh to cricket from cancer, as Kanishkaa Balachandran says in his preview

There is another comeback, which has kind of got drowned in the flood of attention over Yuvraj. Harbhajan Singh, with 683 international wickets, is returning to the side for the first time in a year