Only T20I abandoned after stop-start rain in Napier

Intermittent rain forced the abandonment of the only T20I between New Zealand and Netherlands at McLean Park in Napier. It was raining around one-and-a-half hours before the scheduled start of play at 7.10pm, having then stopped briefly over 30 minutes later.

That is when an inspection was scheduled at 6.30pm, but after the umpires seemed dissatisfied with the state of the outfield, another inspection was planned for 7pm. However, a drizzle delayed proceedings further.

The pattern of stop-start rain continued, as the drizzle came to a halt soon after, with the umpires then scheduling another inspection at 8pm. But just ten minutes before that, it started raining again, only for the officials to call off play about 20 minutes later.

Netherlands' last T20I against a Test-playing country had come against Sri Lanka during the T20 World Cup last year. The abandonment of the solitary T20I in Napier resulted in the two captains sharing the trophy.

The tour now moves on to the three ODIs, the first of which takes place in Mount Maunganui on March 29, with the next two matches in Hamilton.

The ODIs will be a part of the World Cup Super League, where New Zealand and Netherlands are right at the bottom of the points table, having played just three and seven matches respectively so far.