The World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand on Tuesday was deferred to the next day after the match was washed out by rain which persisted for several hours.

The decision was finally made at around 6:25pm (10:25pm PST), approximately four-and-a-half hours after it started to rain.

The Black Caps were 211 for the loss of five wickets after 46 overs, when play was stopped.

ESPNcricinfo reported that the "weather forecast for tomorrow is apparently worse".

According to ESPNcricinfo, it was raining heavily at first in Manchester which later reduced to a drizzle, but again picked up after a while.

The commentators reported at 5pm (9pm PST) that "if the match fails to start by 6:35pm (10:35pm PST), for a 20-over game, then it will be deferred to tomorrow. And for that to happen the rain has to ideally stop by 5:30pm (9:30pm PST)."

This is in accordance with the rules of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Ross Taylor and Tom Latham were on the crease when the game was interrupted by the rain. Taylor had scored 67 off 85 balls, while Latham stood at 3.

The Kiwis had lost Colin de Grandhomme (16) who, in an apparent attempt to lift New Zealand's run rate in the final overs, had played straight into the hands of Indian wicketkeeper MS Dhoni, reducing the Kiwis to 200-5 in 45 overs.

De Gradhomme's wicket came just two balls after Ross Taylor took a successful review after being adjudged lbw.

New Zealand had lost James Neesham (12) in the 41st over when he was caught by Dinesh Karthik.

New Zealand remained defensive against Indian bowlers, who kept the run rate in check and continued to build pressure on the Kiwi batsmen from the get-go. The men in blue got their first breakthrough in the fourth over when opener Martin Guptill (1) was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah.

Skipper Kane Williamson had joined Henry Nicholls (28) on the crease in the fourth over after Guptill's early dismissal. The two built a 68-run partnership giving the team some stability after an early setback. It came to an end in the 19th over when Nicholls was bowled out by Ravindra Jadeja.

The Black Caps suffered a major setback in the 36th over when skipper Kane Williamson (67) was removed by Yuzvendra Chahal.

Kiwis were 134 for the loss of three wickets after the skipper's dismissal. Over the next four overs, they managed to score 21 more.

Williamson, who has been the lynchpin of his team's batting order that has not fared too well in the tournament, had brought his fourth half-century of the World Cup in the 30th over as he tried to lift his team's score. His 50 had come off 79 balls and he only managed to hit three boundaries in the process.

The run tally of Williamson — who has been a steady force in New Zealand's batting order — in the World Cup has crossed 500 while his tournament average passed 100, according to the ICC Cricket World Cup Twitter account.

Toss

New Zealand captain Williamson won the toss and opted to bat against India.

All of the five previous matches in the tournament played on the Manchester ground have been won by the side batting first but the overcast conditions promised to assist India's pacemen.

"We're going to bat," said Williamson, who has been responsible for more than 28 percent of his side's runs at the World Cup, at the toss.

"It looks like a good surface. We've played a number of matches here so we know it's a good pitch," added Williamson, whose side beat West Indies by five runs at Old Trafford in a thrilling group match on June 22.

"It was 50-50 with the overheads (cloud cover) but we just have to bat well. We've got a great opportunity today."

Change in line-up

Two-time former champions India made one change from the side that beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets at Headingley on Saturday to top the 10-team round-robin, with Yuzvendra Chahal replacing fellow spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

That meant there was no place in their side for experienced paceman Mohammed Shami.

"We would have batted first," said India captain Virat Kohli. "It is a fresh wicket and is nice and hard and not moist.

"I think it will remain similar throughout the day. With a bit of rain around, the ball will get more wet as the game goes on.

"We have played really good cricket in Manchester. There have been two good games for us here [wins over Pakistan and the West Indies]."

"We are treating this game as normal as we can," added Kohli, whose side includes Rohit Sharma, the tournament's leading run-scorer with 647 runs.

New Zealand, the 2015 runners-up, qualified fourth after edging out Pakistan on net run-rate.

The Black Caps, appearing in their eighth semi-final but yet to win the World Cup, came into this match on the back of three straight defeats by Pakistan, Australia and England.

New Zealand made one change to the side that suffered a 119-run defeat by England at Chester-le-Street last week.

Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, their leading wicket-taker at the tournament with 17 scalps, returned following a hamstring injury in place of Tim Southee.

India and New Zealand's scheduled group match at Nottingham's Trent Bridge on June 13 was washed out without a ball bowled.

Teams

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (capt), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wkt), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wkt), Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

Umpires: Richard Illingworth (ENG), Richard Kettleborough (ENG)

TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS)

Match referee: David Boon (AUS)