Stumps Day 1: World Cup Semi Final postponed due to rain

The dark skies above Manchester opened to postpone the first Semi Final between India and New Zealand.

Let us take the positives. How wise of the ICC to schedule a reserve day for the semi-finals. At 2pm, with 3.5 overs of the New Zealand innings left, it began to rain at Old Trafford and it continued for four hours, whereupon the umpires had no alternative but to bring the players back on Wednesday morning to complete the match.

This outcome may be inconvenient for the commercial men but it is the fairest for the players and the integrity of the tournament. The match remains a 50-over contest and will resume with New Zealand, who chose to bat on winning the toss, on 211 for five; they have 23 more balls left to set India a target.

It was a struggle for the Kiwis to get that far and as usual they were indebted to the calm grittiness of their senior players, captain Kane Williamson and one of his predecessors, Ross Taylor. Drawing on their vast experience, they obviously decided a modern target in excess of 300 was out of the question on a surface that gave some assistance to the seamers and spinners. Their progress was also stalled by a vibrant Indian side in the field, so vibrant that once they conceded two sets of overthrows from a single delivery.

With Jasprit Bumrah setting an impeccable example once again there were very few cheap runs on offer. At the toss Virat Kohli announced a conservative side in the sense that it transpired that he had picked the bowlers who bat better than their peers.

Ravindra Jadeja retained his place to make his second appearance of the tournament and Bhuvneshwar Kumar was preferred to Mohammed Shami. However, this did not seem to reduce the effectiveness of his bowling attack. Both Jadeja and Kumar were on target from the start of their spells.

In fact Kumar thought he had a wicket with the first ball of the match. He sought a review against Martin Guptill, which proved a mistake. The upshot of that was that India had used up their review with 49.5 overs of the Kiwi innings remaining.

Given Guptill’s current form it may have been wiser to save the review for someone else. He barely middled a ball from Kumar or Bumrah before edging to Kohli at second slip.

So Williamson began his restoration act early again and he took his time alongside Henry Nicholls. After 10 overs the Kiwis had only 27 on the board and their captain did not seem in the least worried by that – though it is hard to tell what Williamson is thinking out there. He just kept playing the ball on its merits.

The partnership was worth 68 when Nicholls was bowled by a Jadeja delivery that had eyes popping. Despite this being a fresh pitch the ball turned surprisingly through the left-hander’s gate. Now Taylor and Williamson continued with a cagey approach. For more than 13 overs there were no boundaries, a sequence ended by a pulled drive by Williamson against Yuzvendra Chahal, who proved the most expensive bowler in Kohli’s quintet.

Williamson’s half-century took 79 balls and he was seeking acceleration when he was caught at cover off Chahal; he paused briefly and stared at the surface to suggest it had betrayed him. Taylor hit the solitary six of the innings in between seeing Colin de Grandhomme and Jimmy Neesham come and go. From the 40-over mark onwards there was a hint of acceleration. And then the rain came.

So there was much sitting and speculating. It was established that, if a 20-over match had been possible to complete the semi-final on Tuesday India’s target would have been 148.

Although the abandonment at 6.20pm was a disappointment, the outcome of the game should have more credibility if both sides have their 50-over quota available, which will now be the case – assuming the Manchester weather is more cooperative on Wednesday

THE STAR

Ross Taylor pulls during his half century against India.

With 5 wickets shared between the Indian bowlers, all starring for India, it was hard to split on Day One of the Semi Final, so instead it is easier to heap praise onto Ross Taylor. His unbeaten 67 off 85 balls has kept New Zealand in the contest, and he will be looking for quick runs first thing on day two to boost New Zealand's total towards 250.

THE MOMENT

Bumrah celebrates the wicket of Martin Guptill.

The opening spell from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah was on point. Removing the dangerous Martin Guptil in the 4th over, they restricted the Kiwi's to just 2 runs off the open four overs, and 10 from the opening 7. It was a tight spell of bowling which impacted the entire innings.

THE FAILURE

A dejected Martin Guptill walks back after being dismissed for one.

Martin Guptil's 14 ball 1 was just another failure for the Kiwi, who now has just scored 167 runs for the tournament at a tick over 20, these figures boosted by his opening match 73no. Such a shame that he has failed considering that New Zealand have made the semi's without their most dangerous bat firing.

WHAT NEXT - The Semi Final resumes today, with Australia and England battling it out tomorrow. TONIGHT - The Semi Final resumes at 10:30am local time, with New Zealand facing a further 23 balls before India will begin their chase. Twenty overs are required to constitute a match, with India progressing in the case of a washout.