Another (Azharudd)interruption disappoints the IndiaNZ

While India made no changes to their playing eleven, New Zealand made just (Di)one change to theirs – Mark Priest made way for Nash. On winning the toss, Stephen Fleming, the Kiwi skipper, chose to bat.

Nathan Astle, whose 13-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 15. Thirty-four balls into the match, he was caught by Anil Kumble. Venkatesh Prasad broke the 28-run stand.

Fleming, whose 27-ball (Sach)innings included three boundaries, scored 20. Forty balls later, he was caught by Tendulkar. It was Harbhajan Singh's 18^th birthday, and he had a reason to celebrate – he broke the 29-run partnership.

Bryan Young, whose 52-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 26. Forty-one balls later, he was stumped by Nayan Mongia. The (Kumb)leggie broke the 28-run stand. Matt Horne had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he did nought get off the mark. Nine balls later, he was stumped by Mongia. Harbhajan broke the four-run stand.

Craig McMillan, whose 39-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 26. Thirty-six balls later, he was caught by Sourav Ganguly. Hrishikesh Kanitkar broke the 22-run stand. Chris Cairns, who faced 33 balls, scored 19. He was unbeaten, as was Adam Parore, who faced 14 balls, scoring nine.

Rain interrupted play after 31.1 overs. Continued rain resulted in the match being abandoned. India conceded 13 extras. New Zealand scored 128 for the loss of five wickets. Robin Singh bowled a wicketless ball, conceding a run. Ajit Agarkar, who bowled seven wicketless overs, conceded 39.

Prasad and Kanitkar bowled five overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former, whose spell included a maiden, conceded 23, the latter conceded 20. Kumble bowled half-a-dozen overs, including a maiden. He conceded 15, picking up a wicket. Harbhajan, who bowled eight overs, conceded 26. He picked up a couple of wickets.