They promised us an hour and a half’s drive from Hamilton to the Tauranga Bus Station, which is exactly what they delivered. Now, they have promised us a rain-free next three days here in Mount Maunganui, a promise all stakeholders of India’s ongoing tour of New Zealand will be desperately hoping holds true too.

The weather has played truant from the start of the One-Day International series in Auckland last Wednesday. The first game escaped relatively unscathed, but the second in Wellington was brutally interrupted at a pivotal phase and the third in Hamilton on Tuesday was washed out without a ball being bowled.