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Cricket-Rain washes out opening day of WTC final in Southampton

SOUTHAMPTON, England (Reuters) -Rain washed out the entire opening day's play in the final of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) between India and New Zealand at the Hampshire Bowl on Friday.

Not even the coin toss could take place as the square stayed under cover throughout the day.

Better weather has been forecast for the weekend with play set to begin at 0930 GMT on Saturday. Organisers have anyway allocated a reserve day to make up for lost time.

The one-off match marks the culmination of a two-year cycle of the inaugural WTC, launched in 2019 to create a pinnacle event for test cricket.

India went with both their spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin while veteran Ishant Sharma was picked as the third seamer ahead of Mohammed Siraj in their five-man attack.

New Zealand, led by Kane Williamson, are yet to reveal their playing XI.

"We'll have to wait and see when we get the chance to have a look at the wicket," opener Tom Latham said. "I'm sure Kane and (coach Gary) Stead have a few contingencies in plan."

"Hopefully the weather clears and both teams will be looking forward to getting out there," added Latham, 29.

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Pritha Sarkar and Andrew Cawthorne)