8.30 pm And that's all she wrote, folks. The umpires have decided to call the match off. There was only about an hour and a bit left to get it off the ground, but it was still raining at Eden Park. So even the prospect of a 20 over game was quite distant. Thanks for sticking around, and we hope to have your company again when the cricket moves to magical Nelson for the fourth ODI at 11 am.

8.00 pm Damp. That's the state of the outfield and the chances of resumption. At least any time soon. The rain, though, has stopped.

Raza: "With this match 'almost abandoned', if this series ends with 3-3. Consider it a win for SL. This NZ side is not easy to beat, definitely not in their home. Captain is bold and aggressive, always goes for the win."

Zeeshan Mahmud: "What often falls but never gets hurt? ..Rain! What is queen's favorite kind of precipitation? Reign! What goes up when rain comes down? Umbrella!"

"Apparently there are many people who love rain. On days like these, I wonder why I can never bring myself to adopt such a twisted predilection." I think you've mixed up awesome and twisted, SD. It's okay. We rain-lovers forgive you.

kruger: "come on rain; cease now will you? i'm confident that us lions could wipe out this target without running into too much drama: " But is that what we want after such a prolonged period of inactivity? Come on, lets have pop open a few controversies!

7.30 pm Mohandas Menon tweets: If New Zealand innings is terminated now in the Auckland ODI then Sri Lanka's target will be 203 in 28 overs or 160 in 20 overs #NZvSL and Andrew from the Eden Park informs that the rain continues

Dan: "I wondered why Taylor was so quick to review when there was no edge, but I guess he just realised how much of a difference an extra wicket lost can make to DL. Good match awareness."

DanielAlexander: "@ Dan - Taylor would have blocked that delivery in that case, poor from Taylor to walk across the sumps and try to play across the line"

Ashane: "203 in 28 overs! that's ridiculous..." Not at this ground. Not with all this moisture around to prevent the bowlers from gripping the ball and helping the ball come onto the bat

David: "Those last two quick wickets will be crucial in making a very gettable DL target for SL "

7.05 pm DanielAlexander: "The T20I champions SL will be clear favorites if they are given a target to chase down in 20 overs " Yep, we're in and around that territory. The last info we received was that the rain has not relented. Wonder if the umpires will decide to end New Zealand's innings here and resume with Sri Lanka's chase...

So Auckland's been a rebel and not put on it's top hat and tails today. But when it does... well, why don't I let our own Andrew McGlashan take you out on a tour. World-Cup globetrotters, do have a read

Adam: "it's a shame. Forecast looks beautiful tomorrow, just as it was the week just gone. The problem NZ had in Sri Lanka in 2013 was that the tour was scheduled during monsoon season - so there was a lot of rain. NZ have the same problem by scheduling games here in summer..."

6.15 pm If anything, things have only worsened. Auckland wears a very gloomy look. The covers are firmly on the pitch. The players are tucked away in the dressing room. I am struggling to make jokes that make sense. So the umps have called the comedy police.

Remember the ha-ha we were hoping for... well, hold on to it. The rain continues on and those smug ol' covers are back on the field

Sean: "Ridiculous that they haven't abandoned the game. Too many stopages, and they spend more time putting the covers on and taking them off then actual game play!" The covers are being dragged off again. You can almost imagine them sneering, "We'll be back." Hopefully we get to do the 'ha-ha' back at them. The buggies are out and a giant rope is being dragged through the outfield to reduce the amount of moisture on the outfield

taufeeq: "can you please call mohammad irfan to wipe out some cloud here"

SD: "@SamRoy: Not to mention being being Sri Lanka's designated finisher in ODIs." He might not be able to showcase those skills if the weather keeps jutting in like this. The groundstaff hurry to cover the pitch again with the rain getting a touch heavier

Sushant M: "Spinner on attack. Front foot out of off stumps, banged out over square leg. Where is that Taylor gone? "

SamRoy: "Nobody ever talks what a great cricketer Mathews is in ODIs (and also in tests). He hardly bowls a bad ball, fields excellently and is world class with the bat. Just like a certain Steve Waugh. "

Andrew Fernando sounds the rain bugle, "Heavy drizzle falling again"

Ross Taylor strides out, gets some info from Guptill, and then takes guard. Can he buck his poor form?

Out come the umpires, followed by a bat-windmilling Tom Latham and Martin Guptill. Sri Lanka silently slip into their fielding positions. Senanayake to continue, around the wicket

Neth: "@Naveed I hope you haven't forgotten Sri Lanka won the asia cup and t20 world cup in 2014 "

"So, will it be a 43 overs game now?" Spot on, Uwaisul Karnain. Three bowlers can bowl nine overs, and two others can bowl eight. There's one three-over block of batting powerplay as well. For Sri Lanka's batting, the mandatory powerplay will be for nine overs from the start of their innings, and then a four-over batting powerplay

Dave: "With 18 overs to go I hope they don't persist with having Vettori at 5.... Taylor, Anderson and Ronchi sounds good from here."

Naveed: "@Aaron, We sri lankans have no questions, we know sri lanka will come to the finals and fall pray to the opponent. We have begun to accept that as a part of our lives."

Aaron: "Almost 90% of the conversation is about New Zealands team and who is playing for what, and who played well when. Honestly where are the comments published from the Sri Lankans? Like the chances of Malinga playing this world cup or the question of who is going to fnally open if Karunaratne can't get going this ODI and its importance on his performance?"

Will: "Nice record for Guptill but underlining Williamson's value and talent is that he is on track to get 3000 runs in just 82 innings at his current rate. Kid has a huge future!" That's a pretty safe (and specific) bet, KW's 2557 2060 in 55 innings.

"Williamson has 2060 runs. You got "runs" and "balls faced" mixed up." Thanks, Joey

5.10 pm Covers are off . Conditions are getting brighter. The umpires are in constant conversation with the groundsmen. It appears everything is being done to get the match back on. Play will resume in 20 minutes

"Instead of changing the balls why don't the ICC invest in a small rectangular black box, that has an in and out for the ball to go and come out from which instantly dries the ball up. That would be a good money making business. In fact, I better stop watching cricket and start building it." Good on you, Nikhil

4.55 pm Reddy: "Why dont the umpires change the ball when its wet and difficult to control. The cricket competition should be based on players skills rather than on weather conditions" No point in that cause the new one will get wet as well. The drizzle is still on, and it's picked up so much that the umpires finally yield. The players go off the field again

GK: "I get so bored with the constant ragging on the likes of Guptill, Clarke and Misbah regarding their strike rates. They all have such healthy averages, and they're in teams with strike power all around them. Guptill does need more consistency, but he's recovering from injury at the moment." This should cheer you up, GK. Guptill (90 innings) is now the fastest New Zealand batsman to 3000 runs in ODIs having beaten Nathan Astle's (93) record

Faisal: "It's so clear to me that Latham is playing for his spot and not for his country right now" Too early to jump that gun. Besides, he is the designated driver of the XI, I'd say, while Anderson and Ronchi around to play it fast and loose