So that turned out to be a damp squib. But there is plenty of cricket happening elsewhere. If you follow the Big Bash League, the Hobart Hurricanes-Sydney Thunder clash is turning out to be a run fest, or if you're a fan of Indian domestic cricket, Vidarbha are scripting quite the fairytale as they take firm steps towards lifting their maiden Ranji Trophy title. So switch over tabs to catch up on the action from either of those games if you like. From here, it's goodbye. Thanks for spending your New Year's day with us.

10.05pm And the wait ends, ladies and gentlemen. The first international match of 2018 has been called off as rain bosses all in Mount Maunganui. Who knows how this game could have panned out? For the most part of whatever little play was possible, nothing had changed except for the year on the calendar for West Indies as they continued to get bossed over by New Zealand. To be fair to them, there was an awful lot of moisture around, which made gripping the ball next to impossible, let alone delivering it. But some of the indiscretions in line were still inexcusable. All that meant the folk at Bay Oval got to witness New Year fireworks as Colin Munro flattened them with an 18-ball half-century. Then, West Indies showed some fight, pulling things back with a few quick wickets, including one courtesy an absolutely stunning catch by Carlos Brathwaite. But whether or not West Indies could sustain that and show some competitiveness for the first time on this tour, we couldn't witness as the rain started to come down. Since then, almost two hours ago, it has been nothing but a wait.

Riddymon: "I woke up at 2am on new years (yes i missed the countdown) to watch this game. This is a disappointment and I can't go back to sleep now." Life. But, yeah, tough luck.

elwarko: "Assuming no more rain, what's the breakdown on the match? Has NZ innings finished regardless?" By all means. But then, we're fifteen minutes away from the cutoff, so it's unlikely we'll have any innings happening now.

Kiwiaz: "I'm told a 5 over chase is possible..... How would the bowling allotment work?.... One over per bowler? " That's right. But then, again, that's not looking likely now.

9.45pm Half an hour before cut-off time ends, and the BlackCaps have tweeted that play cannot start because a mild rain is persisting. All looking ominous now.

9.40pm Covers are coming off at Bay Oval, but there is still a little bit of rain in the air.

9.30pm This the latest update from Blackcaps' twitter account: The rain has STOPPED! Umpires going out for a look. Latest we can start is 10:18pm local

Dan: "The worse news is the forecast is wet again on Wednesday, and also for Wellington on Saturday." Oh, yeah. If I remember correctly, the forecast for Wednesday is rain starting from the afternoon all the way through Thursday morning.

Amit: "When do we start losing overs?" That process got underway a while ago. We must have already lost a few.

West Indies may have had a vapid 2017, but Afghanistan had quite the year to celebrate. Multiple series win and attaining Test status are just some of the moments that made 2017 Afghanistan's greatest year ever. Things are only looking upwards from here for the lovable underdogs. Peter Della Penna breaks down their year that was.

9pm The rain's still trickling down. NZC's Twitter says it's not looking too good at the moment. We will bring you further updates, if any.

Scotty: "Don't like our chances of a finish. I live 20km west of the ground (where the weather is coming from today) and it's still lightly raining here. No wind to blow it away either, it's just sitting on us. If only we'd played yesterday..."

8.30pm Nothing to say, except that it's still drizzling and the covers are firmly on at Bay Oval. So the rain watch continues.

8.09pm It's all too slippery and rainy on New Year's Day in Mount Maunganui. The umpires have a feel of the pitch and decide there is way too much moisture on it to let them play on. So they're going off for the moment. It's a pretty persistent drizzle and the clouds overhead seem a lot darker and menacing than they were before the start. And we're past 8pm now, which means we're in that zone now when the rain's expected to be at its worst. So no saying how long this break could last.

Nine runs in the last two overs. West Indies need to sustain this.