New Zealand v Australia T20Is abandoned due to quarantine complication

The lack of available MIQ accommodation for the tourists means a rematch of last year's T20 World Cup final will have to wait

New Zealand and Australia’s upcoming T20 international series in Napier has been abandoned due to border restrictions. 

The World Cup finalists were due to square off on March 17, 18 and 20 but have been forced to pull out due to a lack of quarantine accommodation.

Teams remain obligated to observe a period in Manager Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) upon their arrival in New Zealand. The series had been pencilled in on the assumption such limits would have been lifted.

The three T20’s were set to be New Zealand’s first chance of avenging last year’s T20 World Cup final heartbreak. 

NZC chief executive David White said: “At the time we scheduled the visit there was a lot of hope that the trans-Tasman border would be open for those who met the right criteria.

^{It would have been Australia and New Zealand's first meeting since the World Cup final (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)}

“However, the advent of Omicron has, unfortunately, changed everything at the border, and has made it impossible for us to continue with the series.”

In addition, the Black Caps' T20I against Netherlands on March 25, previously scheduled for Bay Oval, will now take place at Napier’s McLean Park.

NZC remains confident that the rest of the home international summer will be unaffected.

The White Ferns start their limited-overs series against India on Wednesday (February 9) with a T20 in Queenstown, while the South Africa men’s squad is currently in MIQ in Christchurch as they prepare for the first Test at the Hagley Oval on February 17.

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