WTC Final: Start of Day 5 play between India and New Zealand delayed due to rain

WTC final Day 5 start delayed (Source: ICC/twitter)

The start of play on Day 5 of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand has been delayed to drizzle at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.

Taking to Twitter, ICC wrote: "The start of day five of the #WTC21 Final is delayed due to rain #INDvNZ."

The start of day five of the #WTC21 Final is delayed due to rain #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/79zIswTW28 — ICC (@ICC) June 22, 2021

The drizzle started around 20 minutes before the scheduled start of play and as a result, there has been a delay with groundstaff working on keeping things as prepared as possible for play to resume once the rain stops.

Rain had played spoilsport on Day Four and play was abandoned without a ball being bowled on Monday. Day 1 of the final was also abandoned due to rain while Day 2 saw early stumps being called due to bad light. A call on using the Reserve Day will be taken on the fifth afternoon.

Jamieson was New Zealand's hero on the third day as he claimed his fifth five-wicket haul in just eight Tests to help the Black Caps seize the initiative in the WTC final.

The 26-year-old Jamieson, who only made his Test debut against India in February 2020, secured the all-important wicket of Virat Kohli to prevent the skipper from adding to his overnight score of 44.

He also dismissed the dangerous Rishabh Pant (4) before taking the wickets of Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah in successive balls as India slumped to 217 all out from 92.1 overs.

In reply, openers Tom Latham (30) and Devon Conway (54) put their side in the driving seat with a 70-run partnership before India hit back late to leave the Black Caps on 101 for two at the close of play on the third evening.