Bad light, rain delay New Zealand-England Test

The Black Caps won the toss and sent England into bat but umpires Asad Rauf and Paul Reiffel called a halt to proceedings before a ball had been bowled, citing bad light amid gloomy weather in the South Island city.

Heavy rain followed, forcing the ground staff to bring out the covers, with forecasters predicting the skies might not clear until mid-afternoon.

New Zealand go into the three-Test series as heavy underdogs, having not won a series against England since 1999, but will fancy their chances of scraping a draw if the best part of a day's play is lost to the weather.