18/06No result
2nd ODI, New Zealand tour of England and Scotland at Birmingham, Jun 18 2008
No result
18/06No result
2nd ODI, New Zealand tour of England and Scotland at Birmingham, Jun 18 2008
No result

END OF OVER:
19 | 10 Runs | NZ: 127/2 (34 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 6.68, RRR: 8.50)

  • Scott Styris19 (24b)
  • Brendon McCullum60 (51b)
  • Luke Wright3-0-20-0
  • Graeme Swann5-0-26-0

7.30pm And there it is. It's all over, red rover. What a shambles. New Zealand have been robbed on a technicality, thanks largely to the half-hour lunch break that ate up 30 minutes of the best weather we've had all day.

"In the end it was just the rain, it was getting ridiculous. We had to be consistent," says the umpire, Steve Davis. "We've got two teams out there struggling to stand in slippery conditions." He adds that the fact that the result was so close should not be a factor in the umpiring decision. "Common-sense is okay when the playing conditions don't cover it." So that clears that up then.

What a glorious advert for one-day cricket, you could almost think it's a conspiracy to hasten the demise of the format. Either way, it was fun in between the showers, but the ending was the biggest shower of the lot. Thanks for tuning in, we've been Andrew Miller and Brydon Coverdale, with Will Luke loitering in the press box.

7.15pm This is a right royal farce. No-one's officially announced that the match is over, but seeing as the boundary rope is being packed up as we speak, I think the few remaining spectators might as well give up hope now.

Six more balls, and we've got a match. England look quite happy to call it quits now, the umpires have a discussion, and that - incredibly - is that. On come the covers, though McCullum doesn't want to go anywhere. New Zealand needed to be on 134 for 2 after 20 overs to win this match - which would have been a perfectly obtainable seven runs in the over.

Ian Botham, quite rightly, is doing his nut about the half-hour break between innings. There are about 15 minutes of playing time remaining in this game, but you can hear the wind howling through the covers as they are being brought on.

18.6
1
Wright to Styris, 1 run, right into the blockhole again - good bowling - and McCullum declines the second as long-on swoops
18.5
4
Wright to Styris, FOUR, there's the boundary, and it's a bit of a flukey one too. A genuine outside-edge as the yorker is squeezed out, and third man can't intercept
18.4
2
Wright to Styris, 2 runs, swung out to deep midwicket. Good connection, but still no boundary

Someone needs to give the camera a wipe. It's properly misted over

18.3
0
Wright to Styris, no run, yorker, and a good one too. A valuable dot ball
18.2
1
Wright to McCullum, 1 run, punch to long-off
18.1
2
Wright to McCullum, 2 runs, too short and swatted hard into the deep. James Anderson makes great ground to field, but is he touching the rope as he slides round? An interminable delay, which funnily enough may suit England as the rain closes in, and finally the verdict is no

END OF OVER:
18 | 5 Runs | NZ: 117/2 (44 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 6.50, RRR: 8.80)

  • Scott Styris12 (20b)
  • Brendon McCullum57 (49b)
  • Graeme Swann5-0-26-0
  • Luke Wright2-0-10-0

Pietersen looks smug as he watches that fluffed shot. I can't imagine why

17.6
0
Swann to Styris, no run, attempted reverse-sweep, but Styris can't make contact. A yelp of an appeal but never in line for the lbw
17.5
1
Swann to McCullum, 1 run, floated up outside off stump, tempting the big drive, but no - another single into the gap at midwicket
17.4
2
Swann to McCullum, 2 runs, onto the back foot and driven hard. A good shot, and good running too
17.3
0
Swann to McCullum, no run, tighter to off stump, and short midwicket cleans up
17.2
1
Swann to Styris, 1 run, plenty singles on offer in the deep on the off side

It looks minging out there now - grey, drizzly, dank and horrible. But apparently still playable, even as a black plastic bag blows across the ground

17.1
1
Swann to McCullum, 1 run, back of a length, and pushed out to deep point.

END OF OVER:
17 | 3 Runs | NZ: 112/2 (49 runs required from 36 balls, RR: 6.58, RRR: 8.16)

  • Scott Styris11 (18b)
  • Brendon McCullum53 (45b)
  • Luke Wright2-0-10-0
  • Graeme Swann4-0-21-0
16.6
0
Wright to Styris, no run, a swing and a miss. Styris is not timing the ball just yet, but with McCullum at the other end, he doesn't need to
16.5
0
Wright to Styris, no run, driven into the covers, and a superb interception from Bell, who reaches to his right, goalkeeper-style
16.4
1
Wright to McCullum, 1 run, pushed into the covers. It's looking awfully misty out there now
16.3
1lb
Wright to Styris, 1 leg bye, good shout, and very close, just trimming the bails on the Hawkeye replay

McCullum signals to the dressing-room for a new pair of gloves - and a Duckworth-Lewis sheet

16.2
0
Wright to Styris, no run, defended back to the bowler

New Zealand tour of England and Scotland 2008 News

  • The month of Mendis

    Plus, two old Sri Lankan foxes still going strong, an umpiring howler, and KP's English identity - all in our round-up of the on-field performance highlights from July

  • Signing off on a high

    New Zealand finished their tour of England on a good note

  • Whose right of way is it anyway?

    Periodic fits of morality do cricket good, and the uproar over the Grant Elliott run-out might well do so, but perhaps not for the reasons that first come to mind

  • Shockers, sizzlers, run-machines

    Umpiring howlers, a new twist on the reverse sweep, and more runs than you can shake a stick at - in our round-up of the on-field performance highlights for June

  • New Zealand crush hapless Irish

    It was a day of records and near-records at Mannofield Park in Aberdeen, as a rampant New Zealand team totally outclassed a threadbare Ireland by a record ODI margin of 290 runs

New Zealand 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st25JM HowBB McCullum
2nd54BB McCullumLRPL Taylor
3rd48SB StyrisBB McCullum