Play has finally been officially called off for the day in Southampton.

India 146/3 after 64.4 overs
Bad light stops play again. It has got darker in the last 10 minutes or so.

India 143/3 after 64 overs
Steady over from Southee. Nothing much happening. India trying to soak up the pressure but the ball is 64 overs old but it is still swinging.

India 141/3 after 63 overs
New Zealand will want a few more wickets before the end of play today. But for the moment, India’s batsmen are standing tall.

India 140/3 after 62 overs
India’s impressive batting effort continues. Kohli and Rahane have shown the right kind of intent in the middle. They haven’t got stuck in a rut.

India 138/3 after 61 overs
Jamieson keeping things tight from the other end. Another maiden over. He has now bowled 14 overs with 9 of them being maidens, conceded 14 runs and taken 1 wicket.

India 138/3 after 60 overs
Difficult for the batsmen and the bowlers. Both need to get set again but Southee dropped one short and Rahane pulled it away for four to bring up the fifty-run stand with Kohli. It has taken them 118 balls.

And the covers are off and play is going to start again.

India 134/3 after 58.4 overs
And bad light stops play again. The players are going off the field again. No more wickets for NZ. Kohli and Rahane keeping it steady.

India 134/3 after 58 overs
India got some runs in the over but it was brilliant bowling by Southee, who kept beating the bat. First he beat Kohli and then Rahane. He found the right channel. The Indian batsmen are pushing at the ball a lot more than there were in the earlier session.

India 129/3 after 57 overs
Nine runs off the Wagner over and the highlight was the four off the last ball. Even Kohli applauded it. Rahane and Kohli trying to make sure the scorboard keeps ticking along.

India 120/3 after 56 overs
India need to stay patient in this season too. Vital that they get the runs on board in the first innings. It will give them great confidence for the rest of the match.

And the players are back on the field. The session is about the begin.

The light is still bad so the post-tea session has been delayed.

TEA, DAY 2: India 120/3 after 55.3 overs

Some tea-time reading for you. Last night, Indian sport lost an icon. Here’s a tribute by Scroll.in’s Ashish Magotra.

TEA, DAY 2: India 120/3 after 55.3 overs: Virat Kohli 35, Ajinkya Rahane 13

The light has been taken in Southampton after the umpires got together. And with that, it will TEA as well. Boos from those in the ground. Good news is that there is no rain. Hopefully just a scheduled break. Kohli is smiling on the way back, he has looked in control. India will be glad to have their captain and vice captain in the middle.

India 120/3 after 55 overs: Kohli 35, Rahane 13

Wagner’s back, a tidy over. The light is starting to fade.

India 118/3 after 54 overs: Kohli 35, Rahane 12

A 2-2-2 in that Southee over for Kohli. Like we saw in his previous tour of England, he is giving Southee the Anderson treatment here. Movement towards off, not hesitant to expose his leg stump but covering the line on the fourth stump. Lovely soft hands too.

India 112/3 after 52 overs: Kohli 29, Rahane 12

Reward for patience, for Rahane. He has the tendency to start slow, and he has today. But pounces on a short ball there from CdG for his first four, cut away past point.

India 107/3 after 52 overs: Kohli 28, Rahane 8

Just one run from the last 3 overs as Southee and Grandhomme keep things quiet in Southampton. Starting to feel like a phase of play where something’s gotta give. On a knife edge at the moment.

Update from Bristol: The Indians are in the middle of another collapse as Harmanpreet Kaur becomes the latest batter to go for a big shot and be dismissed. England are about to win their first match against India on English soil.

England vs India, one-off Test, day 4 updates: Can Mithali Raj and Co save the match?

India 106/3 after 47 overs: Kohli 27, Rahane 8

More good running between the wickets in the Boult over. Quite a few threes taken today already, not the fastest of outfields as you can imagine. Now Tim Southee comes back

India 100/3 after 47 overs: Kohli 23, Rahane 6

The 100 comes up for India with the captain and vice captain in the middle. A 3 for Kohli and 2 for Rahane. Except that moment of near mix-up, the running has been good in this partnership.

India 95/3 after 46 overs: Kohli 20, Rahane 4

A maiden over from Jamieson that saw Rahane shoulder arms to a ball that hit his pads. Thankfully for India, comfortably going down leg side.

Meanwhile, here’s a still of Clark Kanet. Or something.

That umpiring situation with Kohli was really not quite well handled.

Ind 93/3 after 44 overs
Maiden over by Jamieson but Rahane did push at one as it moved away from him. Luckily, he didn’t get bat on ball. Time for a drinks break.

Ind 93/3 after 43 overs
Very steady stuff by the Kiwis. But India are doing the right thing, they need to survive at the moment and build a partnership.

Ind 91/3 after 42 overs
Jamieson and Boult looking to bowl more attacking lines. Rahane and Kohli have usually been a very good combination and India will hope they can get going again.

Ind 88/3 after 40.2 overs
WICKET! Boult back into the attack and he strikes. Got the ball to swing back into Pujara’s pads and the umpire gave him out right away. The right-hander made 8 off 54 balls.

Boult comes into the attack.

Ind 87/2 after 40 overs
Jamieson comes back into the attack. His spell in the first session was an important one and it helped bring NZ back into the game after India’s superb start.

Andy Zaltzman on TMS: “Colin de Grandhomme bowled 19 consecutive dot balls in the period straight after lunch.”

Ind 84/2 after 39 overs
Quite an intriguing battle but surprising that Williamson has not gone back to Boult yet. Wagner must be tiring.

Ind 78/2 after 38 overs
Kohli finally gets a few runs off de Grandhomme. He has been very patient and made sure he is in control of the shot.

Ind 78/2 after 37 overs
Wagner moving into short-ball mode and hit Pujara in the helmet. It was onto him far quicker than he imagined and he was lucky to escape without much damage. Earlier in the match, Gill was hit on the helmet by Jamieson. Maiden over.

Ind 78/2 after 36 overs
The mandatory de Grandhomme maiden over. Kohli unable to get him away at the moment. Four consecutive maidens for the medium-pacer since lunch.

Ind 78/2 after 35 overs
Pujara dealing in boundaries now. Wagner overpitched and Pujara was onto it. A nice drive through the covers. Lovely battle between bat and ball now.

Ind 74/2 after 34 overs
Another maiden over for de Grandhomme. Kohli is prepared to wait this out.

Ind 74/2 after 33 overs
Pujara gets off the mark with a four. He has 4 off 36 balls. Cheers all around the ground.

Ind 70/2 after 32 overs
Another maiden over for de Grandhomme who now has bowling figures of 6-3-15-0. He also beat Kohli all ends up on the last ball. It hit the back leg as it went past the batsman.

Ind 70/2 after 31 overs
A single off the last ball of the over as Wagner drifted onto the pads of the batsman. Kohli helped it along.

Ind 69/2 after 30 overs
De Grandhomme with another maiden over from the other end. Nothing loose from the bowlers.

Ind 69/2 after 29 overs
A maiden over to start things off in the post-lunch session. A crucial partnership for India and they would love to make it a big one. But NZ would have now a better understanding on what they need to do in these conditions.

And we are all set for the second session to begin. Can India find a good rhythm in the middle or will NZ take a few more wickets?

Ind 69/2 after 28 overs
Kohli on 6, Pujara on 0 (24 balls) in the middle for India as the umpire calls lunch. A great opening stand but then NZ struck back with two wickets. An even session given the conditions and it makes for a very intriguing post-lunch session.

Ind 68/2 after 27 overs
Kohli gets off the mark with a gorgeous cover drive for four. Everything about the shot was just right. The shot will inspire great confidence in the Indian skipper and make him feel good right away.

Ind 63/2 after 26 overs
Southee with a maiden over. Pujara, on the other hand, now has scored 0 off 21 balls.

Phil Tufnell. Former England spinner on TMS: “A great bit of bowling. Not as much swing or seam as the other bowlers but Gill poked at it and New Zealand are fighting back.”

Ind 63/2 after 24.3 overs
WICKET! Wagner into the attack and he strikes in his first over to send back Gill (28). Caught by the keeper. The preview ball came into the batsmen, this one just held its line. Brilliant bowling.

Neil Wagner into the attack now. Short balls or will he pitch it up?

Ind 63/1 after 24 overs
Another tight over. Just a single for India. Gill needs to stay clued in here.

Ind 62/1 after 23 overs
Another maiden over. India need to be careful not to let NZ get their focus back again.

Ind 62/1 after 22 overs
Southee brought back into the attack after the fall of Rohit’s wicket. Pujara in the middle now and he won’t be looking to play too many shots early on. That might allow the bowlers to settle into a better rhythm.

Ind 62/1 after 20.1 overs
WICKET! Rohit Sharma (34 off 68) snapped up at third slip. Jamieson gets the breakthrough. He drew the batsman forward. Brilliant catch by Southee. That is the wicket NZ wanted.

Ind 62/0 after 20 overs
India are in control at the moment. de Grandhomme is usually very accurate but today he is being picked off for a few runs. 4 over, 15 runs for the medium-pacer.

Ind 55/0 after 19 overs
Two runs off the first ball and then nothing else. Jamieson has given NZ some control back with his tight bowling (5 overs, 10 runs). But the Kiwis are desperately looking for a wicket now.

Ind 53/0 after 18 overs
FOUR and A fifty run stand for India’s openers! Rohit 29 and Gill 23. Just what Kohli would have wanted. Then off the last ball of the over, Williamson took the review for lbw but there was a clear inside edge. Rohit still there in the middle and looking very solid.

Ind 49/0 after 17 overs
Gill tried coming down to Jamieson and the bowler managed to extract steep bounce from the wicket and hit the batsman flush on the grill. A crunching blow. The physio came running out to pitch but Gill was thankfully fine. A maiden over.

Ind 49/0 after 16 overs
India making the most of the loose deliveries. de Grandhomme dropped one short and wide and Rohit hammered it away. The bowler knew he had erred instantly but the batsman needed to take advantage and he did exactly that.

Ind 45/0 after 15 overs
Jamieson dropped one short and Gill was onto to it in a flash. Nice pull shot for four. The second time he has done it in the innings. One simply can’t bowl short to it but New Zealand haven’t tested him enough outside the off-stump.

Ind 41/0 after 14 overs
Colin de Grandhomme into the attack now and he is a pretty accurate bowler with a very good ER rate. Three maiden overs in a row and time for a drinks break.

Ind 41/0 after 13 overs
Another maiden over. The second in a row as NZ start to tighten the screws a bit here.

Ind 41/0 after 12 overs
A maiden over. That has been a rare occurrence today. NZ could use a few more of them right about now.

Ind 41/0 after 11 overs
New Zealand need to regroup and decide how they want to attack India. At the moment, they are on the backfoot due to India’s positive approach. Jamieson into the attack.

Ind 37/0 after 10 overs
Probably the best start India could have hoped for. Very steady by India and NZ have been a bit too wide but they haven’t done anything too wrong.

Ind 36/0 after 9 overs
The runs continue to flow for India. The openers are looking to be positive but not overtly so. But they have done well to not retreat into a shell in the early going. Rohit has 21 off 33 and Gill has 14 off 21.

Ind 29/0 after 8 overs
Given the conditions, this has been a solid start from India. The openers have done little wrong. Is Williamson going to look to change things around now? Should he?

Ind 26/0 after 7 overs
Southee starts off the first over with a short ball to Rohit Sharma and he gets cut away for four. NZ haven’t got their line or length right yet. India won’t mind this. A little later in the over, Rohit got an edge through the slips for another four. The over ended with Rohit scampering through for a two.

Ind 16/0 after 6 overs
Boult dropped one short and Gill stood up tall and pulled it away for the first four of the innings. Lovely shot and fully in control. Superb from Gill.

Ind 12/0 after 5 overs
A few plays and misses in the over from Southee. He went a little wider and angled the ball into the batsmen more. They have to play at it now.

Ind 9/0 after 4 overs
Steady over by Boult but India’s openers have looked solid so far. No adventures outside the off-stump yet.

Ind 8/0 after 3 overs
Southee settling into a better line but still a little too wide. Rohit let a few deliveries go through to the keeper. Looking in control. Dinesh Karthik, on air, said that he feels the India opener is in a good mind space.

“Rohit has made a slight change in his technique. He’s not planting his front foot across to become a candidate for LBW!” - Former England skipper Nasser Hussain

Ind 5/0 after 2 overs
Boult into the attack from the other end, a different angle... a different challenge. He will bring it into the right-hander and the odd ball will go away with the natural left-armer’s angle. A push down the ground got Rohit another two runs. There is swing on offer... enough of it to ensure that the batsmen don’t get anywhere near complacent.

Ind 3/0 after 1 over
Tim Southee starts off the proceedings with the new ball. The first ball is on Rohit Sharma’s pads and the right-hander helped himself to a three. Southee was searching for swing and the right line in the over. Still early days.

The national anthems are done. The players are in the middle. We are all set.

The lights are on, the pitch is green, NZ have the ball in hand and bowlers who know how to exploit their conditions. It is not going to be easy for India but this is the challenge that a professional lives for.

Playing XIs

No change in the playing XI that India had named two days before the game. The rain hasn’t changed their plans in any way.

Rohit, Gill, Pujara, Kohli (C), Rahane, Pant (WK), Jadeja, Ashwin, Ishant, Shami, Bumrah.

No spinner for NZ in the game. Four frontline seamers and Colin Grandhomme as the allrounder.

Latham, Conway, Williamson (C), Taylor, Nicholls, Watling(w), de Grandhomme, Jamieson, Wagner, Southee, Boult.

Toss: Williamson has won the toss and New Zealand are going to have a bowl first.

02.25 pm: Hello all and welcome to the live coverage of day two (day one?) of the ICC World Test Championship Final. Hopefully today’s blog is more than just memes and jokes about rain in England. Hopefully, we get to see the two best Test teams in the world take on each other. Hopefully, the rain stays away long enough.

The inaugural World Test Championship final suffered a setback at the outset after persistent rain meant there was no play at all between India and New Zealand on Friday’s opening day at Southampton.

Heavy overnight and early morning rain meant the pitch and square at the Hampshire Bowl remained fully covered. Several more downpours hit the ground and it was no surprise when the umpires abandoned play for the day at 2:48 pm (1348 GMT).

While a standard Test lasts a maximum of five days, this fixture can be extended into a sixth day should match referee Chris Broad decide that it is the only way to make-up time lost in the game to bad weather. But former England batsman Broad won’t be called on to make such a decision until the fifth day as the match could be over before then in any event.

This fixture, worth $1.6 million to the winners and $800,000 to the runners-up, represents the culmination of a two-year programme of series to crown a champion team in men’s Test cricket, with India and New Zealand topping the qualifying table.

India named their team on Thursday, with the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami as well as spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja all included in the same Test XI for the first time.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, recovered from an elbow injury that saw him miss the Blackcaps’ series-clinching win over England at Edgbaston last week, said he would delay announcing his side until the toss.

India too could yet change their side, as teams don’t have to be confirmed until the toss takes place but fielding coach R Sridhar said it is unlikely.

(With AFP inputs)