First T20No result as rain has the final say

RAWALPINDI: Debutant Tim Robinson’s (0) wicket-bowled neck and crop by Shaheen Shah Afridi’s trade-mark in-swinging delivery was the only excitement for the home crowd in the rain-marred opening T20 International between Pakistan and New Zealand at the Pindi Stadium Thursday that ended with no result.

The crowd’s long wait due to persistent rain backed by heavy showers came to an end just for two deliveries with New Zealand managing 2 runs (leg bye) for the loss of Robinson’s wicket.

The weather kept on teasing the crowd and organisers throughout the evening session. First, it was a delayed toss and when New Zealand finally won the toss, they had no hesitation to bat first. The moment Shaheen Afridi marked his run up and around 8 pm Thursday evening, rain started pouring in this time with full force. This time around rain showers were quite heavy.

Earlier, following almost an hour of rain, the groundmen and related staff made hectic efforts to dry up the square and parts of the field.

Their efforts brought a ray of hope when umpires finally decided to start the first T20 at 10-17pm.

Umpires inspected the ground and square as the rain completely stopped at around a quarter to ten. Ahsan Raza, Aleem Dar (field umpires) and match referee Andy Pycroft finally got agreed to have five overs aside match to side the start.

Some dampness was visible around the square and bowlers’ run-up.

The match thus ended with no result. Pindi Stadium will host two more matches with the second to be played on Saturday and the third on Sunday before the action moves to Gaddafi Stadium Lahore for the final two Internationals of five-match series.

No reimbursement of tickets will be made as the toss was conducted followed by two deliveries bowled by Shaheen Shah.