First Test between New Zealand and South Africa a draw after washout on day five

The rain, which started falling around 1900 local time on Saturday, never eased up and left the potential thrilling fifth day stymied.

The outfield was flooded when the umpires made their call to abandon the game at 1400 local time. The covers were awash and, with an absence of wind, there was no prospect of any play of consequence even if the weather had cleared immediately.

A classic was in the making, with two set batsmen at the crease in Brendon McCullum (58 not out) and his captain Ross Taylor (48no).

New Zealand's two most talented batsmen batted with real maturity the previous afternoon in an unbroken stand of 82 to put their side in a promising, if not prevailing, position.

The four-day-old pitch held few demons, especially where seam bowling was concerned, and the slow nature of it meant Imran Tahir's leg-spin was less of a threat than it might have been otherwise.

The second Test begins in Hamilton on Thursday.

Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568303/s/1d54e638/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Csport0Ccricket0Cinternational0Cnewzealand0C9136730A0CFirst0ETest0Ebetween0ENew0EZealand0Eand0ESouth0EAfrica0Ea0Edraw0Eafter0Ewashout0Eon0Eday0Efive0Bhtml/story01.htm

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