After all the hype and build-up, the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand got off to a disappointing start as the first day’s play was abandoned due to persistent rain.
The downpour was so relentless that the toss couldn’t take place at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Friday (June 18).
See Also: Fans upset after rain washes off first session on Day 1 at Southampton
With a day being washed off, all eyes are now on the reserve day that had been allocated by the ICC for the final.
While fans might think that losing a day would automatically bring reserve day into play, sources in the know of developments said a call on the same will be taken by match officials on the fifth day of the game.
"The Reserve Day will come into play when the match officials say, likely on Day Five when they know it is needed," the source told ANI.
Notably, the match officials have decided to extend the second day’s play to 98 overs and if the same trend continues over the course of the five days then only 2.5 hours can be compensated.
While announcing the playing conditions for the WTC final, ICC had kept aside June 23 as a reserve day to make up for any lost time during the regular days of the summit clash.
“The Reserve Day has been scheduled to ensure five full days of play, and it will only be used if lost playing time cannot be recovered through the normal provisions of making up lost time each day. There will be no additional day’s play if a positive result is not achieved after five full days of play and the match will be declared a draw in such a scenario,” ICC had said in a media release.
“In the event of time being lost during the match, the ICC Match Referee will regularly update the teams and media about the way in which the Reserve Day may be used. The final decision on whether the Reserve Day needs to be used will be announced at the scheduled start of the last hour on the fifth day.”
As per ICC playing conditions, India and New Zealand will be crowned joint winners in case of a draw or a tie.
