Rain washes out first day's play in B'luru

Bengaluru, PTI: Unrelenting rain wiped out play on day one of the opening Test between India and New Zealand here on Wednesday. The play was called off at 2.34 pm as rain lashed the M Chinnaswamy Stadium after relenting for about half an hour earlier. The match officials came out to inspect the pitch around 2 pm after outfield and first layer of covers were removed around 1.50 pm. But there were large damp areas on either side of the pitch as hessians were brought out in a last-ditch attempt to get some game time. However, it was a futile effort as extensive damage was already done by rains of varying intensity from early morning. Earlier, even the toss, which was scheduled at 9 am, could not take place as rain came down relentlessly over the city from morning.