BIRMINGHAM (England), June 19: The second One-day International between England and New Zealand ended in a farcical and controversial no-result with the game just an over away from being declared a ‘match.’

The Black Caps were on 127 for two off 19 overs and needed just seven more off the 20th, assuming they didn’t lose a wicket, for victory under the Duckworth-Lewis system.

Although, at that stage, rain was falling heavily the conditions did not appear to be appreciably worse than they had been for some time. Nevertheless, the umpires then took the players off the field with the game just shy of the 20 overs in the second innings needed for a result.

Any New Zealand sense of injustice would have been fuelled by the fact it took England more than an hour to bowl 14 overs and 83 minutes in all to deliver 19. The International Cricket Council (ICC) says teams should bowl an average of 14.28 per hour.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND:

I.R. Bell c Vettori b Mills 0

L.J. Wright c Styris b Elliott 52

K.P. Pietersen c Vettori b Mason 13

R.S. Bopara run out 10

P.D. Collingwood c Flynn b Elliott 37

O.A. Shah lbw b Elliott 18

A.D. Mascarenhas c Hopkins b Southee 23

T.R. Ambrose c Taylor b Mills 1

G.P. Swann c Hopkins b Southee 1

S.C.J. Broad run out 1

J.M. Anderson not out 0

EXTRAS (B1, LB-2, W-2, NB-1) 6

TOTAL (all out, 24 overs) 162

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-40, 3-77, 4-80, 5-126, 6-137, 7-147, 8-161, 9-161.

BOWLING: Mills 5-1-24-2; Southee 5-0-35-2 (1w); Mason 2-0-24-1 (1nb); Elliott 5-0-23-3 (1w); Vettori 5-0-27-0; Styris 2-0-26-0.

NEW ZEALAND:

J.M. How c Shah b Broad 16

B.B. McCullum not out 60

L.R.P.L. Taylor c Wright b Collingwood 25

S.B. Styris not out 19

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-3) 7

TOTAL (for two wkts, 19 overs) 127

FALL OF WKTS: 1-25, 2-79.

DID NOT BAT: D.R. Flynn, G.D. Elliott, G.J. Hopkins, D.L. Vettori, K.D. Mills, T.G. Southee, M.J. Mason.

BOWLING: Anderson 3-0-16-0 (2w); Broad 3-0-28-1; Collingwood 4-0-23-1; Wright 3-0-20-0 (1w); Swann 5-0-26-0; Mascarenhas 1-0-10-0.

RESULT: Match abandoned.

UMPIRES: I.J. Gould (England) and S.J. Davis (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: N.J. Llong (England).

MATCH REFEREE: J. Srinath (India).—AFP