India’s Cricket World Cup semi-final with New Zealand will go into a second day after consistent rain interrupted play on Wednesday morning (AEST).

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat but struggled for fluency in its innings, stuck at 5-211 from 46.1 overs when bad weather hit Manchester.

Ross Taylor is not out on 67 and wicket-keeper Tom Latham is unbeaten on three.

India’s five bowlers all took one wicket, with the game situation favouring the 2011 champions.

Play will resume in the 47th over on Wednesday evening (AEST) – the match’s ‘reserve day’, designed to be used if bad weather strikes.

The two sides did not face each other in the preliminary stage of the tournament, with that fixture being washed out. There are only reserve days for semi-finals and the final.

There was some hope that a result would be possible on Wednesday after rain stopped at around 5.30pm (local time).

That scenario could have been possible if India faced a minimum of 20 overs.

India would have needed a tricky 148 runs in that 20-over period according to the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

An inspection was called for 6.10pm (local time) but the rain returned to kill off any hope of getting a result.

Peter Handscomb of Australia during the Australia Nets Session. Photo: Getty

Earlier, India thought they had a wicket from the very first ball of the match when Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-30) hit Martin Guptill on the pads.

The subsequent review was turned down, though, as New Zealand was ultra-cautious and did not score from its first 16 deliveries.

And in the fourth over India had a wicket, captain Virat Kohli taking a smart catch at second slip to dismiss Guptill for one.

Both Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah (1-25) bowled well with the new ball and it took until the last ball of the eighth over for New Zealand to score a boundary.

Black Caps captain Kane Williamson (67) and Henry Nicholls (28) did their best to lift the run-rate but the latter was bowled by a sharp Ravindra Jadeja (1-34) delivery.

That wicket brought Ross Taylor to the crease and he and Williamson have clearly been New Zealand’s best batsmen at the World Cup.

A 65-run partnership followed but it took exactly 17 overs to compile as the likes of Jadeja, Bumrah and Hardik Pandya (1-55) kept things tight in the middle overs.

India’s most expensive bowler, Yuzvendra Chahal (1-63), provided the breakthrough, Williamson spooning a catch to Jadeja.

And big-hitters James Neesham (12) and Colin de Grandhomme (16) did not last long, either, leaving Taylor with the responsibility of pushing New Zealand towards 250.

But he did not get the chance, the heavens opening up with persistent drizzle forcing players back for another day.

Kumar and Bumrah are the only two frontline bowlers with overs remaining, the pair having 1.5 and two overs left to bowl respectively.

Play will begin at 7.30pm (AEST) on Wednesday evening.

In the event that the match is not completed, India will progress to the final after finishing higher than New Zealand in the preliminary stage of the tournament.

The winner of this match will play either tournament hosts England or Australia in Sunday evening’s (AEST) final at Lord’s.