Continuous rain has kept the wicket covered at the Bir Shrestho Shaheed Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Cricket Stadium in Chattogram since Tuesday, with conditions failing to improve on Wednesday as heavy showers persisted from around 11am. The ongoing downpour forced the second T20I between Bangladesh and New Zealand to be abandoned.
Both teams arrived at the ground around 12:20pm but were unable to leave their dressing rooms due to the weather. No match officials, umpires or ground staff were seen at the venue during the morning hours. The match was scheduled to start at 2pm, with the toss set for 1:30pm, but persistent rain delayed proceedings.
The cut-off time for a five-over-a-side contest was 5:16pm, but with no break in the weather, the match was officially called off an hour earlier.
Despite Chattogram’s strong drainage system, time constraints combined with continuous rainfall made play impossible. Earlier, curator Zahid Reza Babu told Times of Bangladesh that if the rain had stopped, ground staff could have made the field playable within 40 minutes.
On Monday at the same venue, Bangladesh had restricted New Zealand to 182 and successfully chased the target with 12 balls remaining and six wickets in hand.
The final match of the series will be held on May 2 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
