England v New Zealand 2008

At Birmingham, June 18. No result. Toss: New Zealand. One-day international debut: G. D. Elliott.

The game ended in acrimony, with the crowd booing the players and umpires off and Vettori accusing England of gamesmanship, after it was abandoned only one over short of a positive result. The frustration was understandable at the end of a miserably wet and windy day. The start had been delayed until 3 p.m., and another shower during England's innings reduced their overs to 24, in which they scrambled to a competitive 162. Elliott, who had been summoned from club cricket in Surrey to cover for the injured Oram, took a commendable three for 23 on his one-day international debut. Despite the time lost, the regulations still insisted upon a 30-minute break between innings (the ICC allowed an immediate revision by the two boards), and New Zealand were given a Duckworth/Lewis target of 160 from 23 overs. As McCullum guided them towards victory and the storm clouds threatened again, England's field changes became increasingly frequent, and the rain finally became too much for the umpires. New Zealand, who would have needed 134 for two off 20 overs, felt they had been robbed, but referee Javagal Srinath declared England's over-rate acceptable - this time at least.