Australia vs New Zealand, 7th Match, Group A at Birmingham, , Jun 12 2013 - Match Result

All right then. Sadly we don;t have a result today. It was shaping up to be a close contest. The final punch belonged to the weather. Cheers all, keep writing to us

6.23pm The umpires have asked both the captains to come out. And the match has been abandoned. The teams take a point each. New Zealand now have three, Australia one

They clearly decided the ground wouldn't be ready by 6.54pm

6.15pm The umpires are out for the inspection. Covers are still on

6.10pm "Dawolf, ask Shaun Pollock. He'll know what the target would be." Gav, please don't take away the credit from Eric Simmons

"In such an important Tournament, why would'nt they have a spare day? i.e. Is there a game on this ground tommorrow?" Gary, that would be the sensible thing to do, but TV doesn't like two matches a day. And TV runs the game

Ray: "Am I the only one tempted to shout it everytime I see that name? Dawolf, Dawolf, Da wolf is on fire! Right, only me then."

6pm "Tried using two different Android calculators, one from Tarams Inc and one from Robert Fear. Both show 184. Possibly differences could be due to older versions of D/L or due to differences between Professional & Standard versions (both of these use Standard I'd expect). No idea which is causing the issue...." Yes, Dawolf, it could be down to professional version v standard version. Mine is the professional version

Nick Travers: "@Ryan: on the flip side, it's 17 overs without losing a wicket. Leaving them in a reasonable position to really push at the end. On the whole I think it's fair."

5.45pm The ground staff is still working to get the covers rid of water. However, the sky looks angry. I can't rule out further rain. The next inspection is at 6.15pm. In that case, if we are looking at a 6.30pm start, we might get 11 more overs. New Zealand will need 103 more in 11 overs should the game start at 6.30pm. Remember the latest this match can resume at is 6.54pm

Ryan: "If its 18 overs, thats 17 overs lost for only 43 runs. Very harsh."

""The target in that case will be 191 in 33 overs. That's 140 runs in remaining 18 overs" Is that right? The D/L calculator I have says 184 as the target with 17 overs gone." Might you have an older version, Dawolf?

5.30pm It has stopped raining. Mopping has begun. So it is looking more and more like a 6pm resumption

James: "140 off 18 is about equivalent run rate to 156 off 20, so tough, but doable, particularly with Ross and Baz in the team."

We are down to a thin drizzle now.

"So I predict another 20 mins before the rain stops which means I guess 35 mins until play can begin. Probably means 545pm -6pm when we see play start. What does that mean for the match?" Phil, if we start at around 6pm, we will have lost about 17 overs. The target in that case will be 191 in 33 overs. That's 140 runs in remaining 18 overs

5.10pm "What happens if one of the matches is called off?? I am invested in this match and going to the one in cardiff on sunday!" Kate, if the match is called off both teams get a point each, and your Sunday visit will depend on the England-Sri Lanka result tomorrow. Suppose today is a draw, then an England win means England are through, and the worst New Zealand can do it tie with Australia on three points. But if Sri Lanka win, the tables are turned and it will become a big muddle

Timeh Slim: "Regarding retiring out: "Although it is not considered to be a dismissal in the context of a cricket match, it is considered a dismissal for the purposes of calculating a batting average." Also, as shown in the CT13 warmup matches, retiring out does not count as a wicket, but you're not allowed to return to bat."

5pm Still raining. Pushpa R Neupane: "@Schulz: once NZ can get the revised target in possible allocated overs under the current situation, NZ can use all their wickets to get those many runs. So, any NZ batsman retiring should not affect them in the short run chase once the target has been given."

Adam in Norwich: "A D/L target wouldn't be affected by wickets being lost AFTER play had resumed, unless play got interrupted and the remaining overs got reduced again. So if NZ were set a target of 112 in the minimum of 20 overs then retirement(s) to get BMac in would be a valid option."

Even as it drizzles, the ground staff is getting to work on the water collected on the covers. Phil: "The end of the rain is in sight"

4.45pm Still raining. We will start losing overs five minutes from now. Marty: "Unless the MET Office rain radar is up to mischief - this game is as good as over. Surely something has to go right for Australia soon."

Andrew Schulz: "Ah John, if a player retired, that is a wicket, so it would change the D/L equation."

"This is boring. Sid could you do something about the weather please? Thanks mate." James, tell me about it. where I am, I haven't had sun or rain, just howling winds, for a week

Not many left in the stands. The rain is not heavy but steady

4.40pm Patrick: "Obligatory "it's blazing sunshine where I am" message."

John: "Could we see KW or RT retiring to make way for McBren if Nz have a short run chase? That way NZ don't lose another wit for D/L."

Anyway, it is still raining. In 10 minutes, we start losing overs

4.25pm The latest that we can resume is by 6.54pm. If we start at 6.54pm, we will have a 20-over game. That will give us 21 minutes for five overs. If we don't get a resumption by 4.50pm, we will begin to lose overs. And it is still raining

4pm The rain has got harder. Nagraj admits he was wrong

3.51pm Nagraj tells me from Birmingham that this looks like a persistent rain, but won't persist. He thinks he is a weather expert. It is not coming down to this, but imagine if we had such a long break that this game was curtailed to 20 overs, New Zealand's revised target would be 112

3.39pm The umpires try to resist it, but they are having to go off now. The covers are coming on. New Zealand are 51 for 2 after 15 overs, 15 behind the par score right now, but it doesn't matter until 20 overs are bowled

3.38pm The rain is back. It's heavier this time

The par score, if New Zealand are two down still, at the end of the 20th over is 78. For three wickets down, it is 94. No rain as we speak

Here is X-Man Doherty

I don't see any rain now, but it is quite overcast

"I see Cricinfo is running the headline "Warner dropped after punch at Root" My question is who "dropped" him - someone else in the pub?" Torben, you don't know Kamran Akmal was there?

Round the stumps

Seems to have stopped raining

Vikram Rathore: "Is Maxwell actually MacSwell? This would add to the count of Macs."

"Wait until the kids start playing, then we will have sons of Mitch's" Wiggy777, I am sure people around are sick of my repetition of this joke

Ground staff is ready