Rain washes out the Hamilton ODI as India keep their 2-0 lead over New Zealand

Rain washed out the third one-day international at Seddon Park without a ball being bowled, leaving India 2-0 up with two matches to play

India's chance to put the series beyond New Zealand in Hamilton vanished under the covers on Tuesday. The third ODI at Seddon Park was abandoned because of rain, with no play possible at all.

Shubman Gill had won the toss and asked New Zealand to bat, but the weather allowed nothing beyond that. The match goes down as abandoned, and the points are shared.

India still lead the five-match series 2-0, and the washout means Mitchell Santner's side can no longer win it.

A toss that led nowhere

The toss was pushed back again and again as showers swept across the ground and the square stayed under tarpaulins. Supporters on the grass banks spent the afternoon beneath umbrellas waiting for a break that never came.

Officials eventually got the captains out in the middle in the late afternoon, local time, for a reduced game of 40 overs a side, with no bowler permitted more than eight.

Gill made his frustration plain as the coin went up. "It's quite frustrating on and off. Hopefully, if it rains, it continues, or if not, it stops," the India captain said at the toss.

The rain returned before the players could take the field, and after a further inspection the umpires called it off.

Where the series stands

India won the opener at Eden Park, bowling New Zealand out for 185 in 40.2 overs and reaching 143 for 5 in 22.4 for a five-wicket win on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

The second, at Sky Stadium in Wellington, was closer still. New Zealand were dismissed for 134 in 41 overs, and India were 113 for 7 in 26 — four runs ahead of the par score — when the weather ended it.

Both of India's wins came chasing, and in both they were ahead of where the method said they needed to be when the rain arrived.

New Zealand must now win at Bay Oval twice to square the series at 2-2. One more win, or one more washout, and India take it.

A series the weather keeps deciding

Three matches in, the rain has had a say in every one of them. Both completed games were settled by DLS rather than by a full chase.

Neither side has batted out fifty overs in the series, and New Zealand have not reached 200 in either innings they have completed.

That is a hard way to build momentum for a home side that arrived at Seddon Park needing a result.

Fisher in for Tickner

New Zealand named Matthew Fisher in their XI in place of Blair Tickner, who is on a stand-down after taking a blow to the helmet, alongside Will Young, Tim Seifert, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Kyle Jamieson and Jacob Duffy.

India were unchanged, with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in the top order and Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Gurnoor Brar among the bowlers.

Neither XI got to field a ball, so both selections carry over as live questions into Friday.

Two matches left at Bay Oval

The fourth ODI is at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui on Friday, with the fifth at the same ground on Sunday.

Back-to-back matches at one venue give New Zealand two quick chances to level the series, and give India two to finish it.

India arrived in the one-day leg having taken the T20I series 3-2, winning the first three before New Zealand struck back in Auckland and Hamilton.

For Gill, the series is now one win away, with two chances left to close it out rather than three.

Scorecard: New Zealand v India, 3rd ODI, Seddon Park, Hamilton — match abandoned due to rain without a ball bowled. India lead the five-match series 2-0.