Rain prevents play in Southampton with match finely poised

Monday’s washout means that the match will extend into the designated reserve day on Wednesday if required, with the weather forecast for the fifth and potential sixth days of the Test significantly improved. An announcement on the reserve day will be made during Tuesday’s play.

New Zealand will resume on 101/2 in their first innings, still 116 runs behind, with captain Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor at the crease.

SCORECARD

India lost seven wickets on an intriguing third day on Sunday, with Kyle Jamieson completing his fifth five-wicket haul in his eight-match Test career, dismissing Virat Kohli before bagging two in two balls to help wrap up the tail.

The 26-year-old has now taken 44 wickets in eight Tests since making his five-day debut for New Zealand in February 2020, with those dismissals coming at an average of 14.13 and with an economy of 2.36.

“I think the team culture and the environment that has been created over a long period of time is certainly one of the strings of this team and allows guys [to perform],” Jamieson told a media conference following the third day’s play.

“I have certainly been comfortable coming into this group and just being able to go about your business and I think having world-class guys around you allows you to just settle in your role.

“I’ve been able to learn off these guys and I guess ride the coattails of them a little bit. The pressure they build and the runs they score, I can’t speak highly enough of the environment.”

Jamieson’s theory is also backed up by the form of opener Devon Conway, who became the first – and so far only – batter to record a half-century in this Test with his 54 on Sunday.

Conway’s fledgling Test career is even greener than Jamieson’s, with the 29-year-old playing only his third five-day match for New Zealand. But the opener has followed up his double-hundred on debut against England at Lord’s with half-centuries at Edgbaston and now the Hampshire Bowl.

But Conway fell in what proved to be the final over of day three in Southampton, slicing a ball that straightened late from Ishant Sharma to Mohammed Shami at mid-on.

“It was a crucial wicket for us and I feel if we’d have been able to have bowled a couple more overs to Ross Taylor, the new batsmen, we might have gotten a couple of more,” said India batter Shubman Gill.

“When the play restarts we will have a slight edge on them as both are relatively new on the crease.

“I think both of the teams will try to have a result out of this match. If the conditions don’t go our way then there isn’t much that we can do.”

Play is scheduled to start at 10:30am BST on Tuesday, with an additional 60 minutes of lost playing time (a minimum of 15 overs) added from the start of the scheduled last hour of play.

Additional time can be added if all overs are not completed in the scheduled time, and an extra 30 minutes can follow if requested by either captain, if the umpires believe that the additional time could bring a definite result on the day.

The reserve day is available to make up the lost time if, as expected, it is required. Official confirmation of the reserve day will be made during Tuesday’s play.