NZ VS ENG - 1st T20I, England tour of New Zealand, 2025

A damp squib to begin the series, but hopefully we'll get better conditions for the second T20I here on Monday. Do join us for all the action. For now, cheers and bye..

Mitchell Santner | New Zealand Captain - (On the conditions) There was a little bit in it like we kind of thought. Bowling first, the boys started off extremely well with the new ball. It looked pretty challenging there, a pretty good all-round performance. (On having a lot of bowling options) Oh, it's easy. You just throw it around. If it's doing a bit like it was today, obviously Henry is a great exponent of that, Duff up front. It's handy having Nish in the middle and, you know, the spin options as well. It wasn't a lot of spin, but there was enough hold which was nice. It's nice when you can throw the ball to someone and they're able to respond. (On preparing for the WC) India traditionally can be slow, but it also can be very flat. So, you want a well-balanced squad going to that, Sri Lanka potentially as well. First things first, you want to win a series at home and in front of our home fans. (On his own fitness) Good, I was challenged a little bit in the field tonight, but it feels good. So it's nice to be back with the lads. (On the second T20I) We pride ourselves on adapting. It could be flatter. Depends what they do with it tomorrow. We were pretty clinical there to keep chipping wickets away. That's a massive part of T20 cricket. The powerplay was good, it's a challenging time to bowl, but the boys did an extremely good job.

Harry Brook | England Captain - It did a little bit to start with. Their bowlers are very experienced with the new ball, Matt Henry especially. He made most of that surface. (Do the conditions dictate the batting approach?) We obviously want to adapt to the situation and the surface, but with the depth in batting that we've got, I feel like we can go hard all the way throughout. We've got some extremely powerful and talented players in the squad, so if we don't get to the start that we want, we can always accelerate. (Learnings from this game) Probably just quicker to adapt to the surface, everybody included. It was obviously a little bit tough out there. Just using your options, knowing your options, knowing your boundary options, and using them to your best ability. (On captaining England) It's been good. It's been good fun. We've got a great bunch of lads and we all love being in the squad. We've had a great time so far in New Zealand and we're looking forward to the rest of the series.

22:10 Local Time, 09:10 GMT, 14:40 IST: We've got news that the match has been officially called off. It was just too much of rain and we've run out of time to have at least a 5-over chase. So the first T20I is a washout with both set of players shaking hands. That's it for this game. Hopefully, we'll have better weather on Monday as the two teams return to this venue for the second match of the series

21:50 Local Time, 08:50 GMT, 14:20 IST: We're hearing that the latest a 5-over game can start is at 22:53. Fair to say, we've already started to lose overs. If and when we get a game, New Zealand will be chasing a revised target under the DLS system. The two umpires are walking back to the centre, but they do have umbrellas and it means that the rain hasn't stopped. They're now chatting with the groundstaff - this is a fast drying ground and we should get play pretty quickly after this band of rain stops

21:40 Local Time, 08:40 GMT, 14:10 IST: Rain was forecast today and the spectators had come well prepared. Lots of rain coats and umbrellas in the grass banks and in the stands as this shower remains steady. It's been 30 minutes since England's first innings closed, there was a delay of 15 minutes during their batting innings as well. With plenty of water falling, we're in for a significant delay

21:33 Local Time, 08:33 GMT, 14:03 IST: Oh dear! Looks like the drizzle has returned and the big covers are back. We'll continue to wait, but we might start to lose overs shortly. More covers are being brought on and the shower has started to get heavier. This isn't great news. The bowler's run-up has been covered as well

21:30 Local Time, 08:30 GMT, 14:00 IST: Good news, the big covers are coming off, the 4th umpire is overseeing things. The two on-field umpires stroll out to the middle with no umbrellas. All signs look positive for a quick restart. They're looking for any wetness on the outfield, wasn't a heavy drizzle, so there shouldn't be a lot of moisture around. The pitch is still under covers though

21:18 Local Time, 08:18 GMT, 13:48 IST: As we await the start of the chase, rain has returned and the covers are in place. This is more than just a drizzle and they're covering the entire square. The rain ain't heavy, hopefully we'll be back quickly and without losing any overs

49* runs is Sam Curran’s second-highest score in T20Is after his 50 runs against West Indies in 2023.

153 runs is England’s lowest first innings total against New Zealand in 12 completed T20Is.

1/45 is Jacob Duffy’s second-most expensive bowling figure in T20I.

Matt Henry - I think playing cricket here in the early season is a bit of an unknown (quantity). There was a bit of lateral movement and the pitch was on the slower side. The key is to to bat out the new ball, covers for the movement and put the pressure back on the bowlers (during the chase)

21:11 Local Time, 08:11 GMT, 13:41 IST: Sam Curran's crucial contribution has taken England's total over 150 on a pitch where stroke-making isn't straightforward. Inserted to bat, England lost Salt cheaply. Bethell took a while to get off the mark, got going with a couple of boundaries but fell immediately after that. Brook came out all guns blazing and his innings was cut short by Neesham. Buttler wasn't fluent by any means although he was out there in the middle for more than 10 overs. The spin duo of Santner and Bracewell accounted for Banton and Buttler respectively in successive overs as England slipped further. Curran walked in at six and forged a couple of important partnerships which helped England post a competitive total. It seems to be a two-paced deck, will batting get easier in the second innings? Join us shortly for the run-chase.

Jacob Duffy to Sam Curran, FOUR, hard length from Duffy, Curran shapes to heave it away. The bottom hand comes off the bat handle, the ball flies wide of the keeper off the outside edge and goes fine of short third man to run away to the third man boundary

Jacob Duffy to Sam Curran, 2 runs, width on offer but it's pace off, Curran slashes and slices it over backward point

Jacob Duffy to Sam Curran, wide, tries to bowl the wide yorker and ends up darting it too wide outside off

Jacob Duffy to Sam Curran, SIX, poor ball and punished. Full toss on the pads, Curran swings it over deep square leg for an 88m six

Jacob Duffy to Sam Curran, FOUR, another mishit from Curran. Shapes to swing it across the line and the ball ends up going straight over the bowler's head. Mitchell sprints across from long-on and dives but he can't pull it back

Jacob Duffy to Sam Curran, 2 runs, 134.7kph, leg-lined, Curran swings across the line and mishits over midwicket