IND vs NZ: It's sun, not rain that stops play at McLean Park

India's captain Virat Kohli (L) walks from the field with teammate Shikhar Dhawan after the sun angle halted play during the first one-day international (ODI) cricket match between New Zealand and India at McLean Park in Napier. Pic/AFP

Sun stops play after dinner. Sounds bizarre? But this is what happened in the first India-New Zealand ODI at the McLean Park yesterday. Rain interruption in international cricket bringing the Duckworth-Lewis method into consideration is nothing new. But here it was the sun that troubled the batsmen by coming right in the line of their view, forcing play to stop for about half an hour.'

Indian captain Virat Kohli, whose side's eight-wicket demolition of New Zealand was somewhat overshadowed by the bizarre turn of events, said he has never experienced a sun-induced stoppage in his life. "Never in my life," he said when asked about the halt due to which the target was revised by two runs and the match shortened by an over. "It was funny. In 2014, I got out once with the sun in my eyes and this rule wasn't there then," Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

The decision to halt proceedings was taken after the dinner break of the day-night ODI, keeping the players' safety in mind, on-field umpire Shaun George said. Normally, the cricket pitches are positioned in the North-South direction to avoid this scenario, but at McLean Park, the pitch is East-West facing.

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