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

Wright to Styris, 1 run

right into the blockhole again - good bowling - and McCullum declines the second as long-on swoops

18.5

Wright to Styris, FOUR runs

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

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

•

Wright to Styris, no run

yorker, and a good one too. A valuable dot ball

18.2

Wright to McCullum, 1 run

punch to long-off

18.1

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 185 runs

NZ: 117/2CRR: 6.50 • RRR: 8.80

Scott Styris12 (20b)

Brendon McCullum57 (49b 5x4)

Graeme Swann 5-0-26-0

Luke Wright 2-0-10-0

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

17.6

•

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

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

Swann to McCullum, 2 runs

onto the back foot and driven hard. A good shot, and good running too

17.3

•

Swann to McCullum, no run

tighter to off stump, and short midwicket cleans up

17.2

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

Swann to McCullum, 1 run

back of a length, and pushed out to deep point.

end of over 173 runs

NZ: 112/2CRR: 6.58 • RRR: 8.16

Scott Styris11 (18b)

Brendon McCullum53 (45b 5x4)

Luke Wright 2-0-10-0

Graeme Swann 4-0-21-0

16.6

•

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

•

Wright to Styris, no run

driven into the covers, and a superb interception from Bell, who reaches to his right, goalkeeper-style

16.4

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

•

Wright to Styris, no run

defended back to the bowler

16.1

Wright to McCullum, 1 run

good start, swinging in with the arm and nearly snaking through McCullum's defences

end of over 168 runs

NZ: 109/2CRR: 6.81 • RRR: 7.42

Brendon McCullum51 (43b 5x4)

Scott Styris11 (14b)

Graeme Swann 4-0-21-0

Dimitri Mascarenhas 1-0-10-0

Here's Luke Wright

15.6

Swann to McCullum, 1 run

a hurtled single, if the shy from short backward square had hit, it could have been very close. Swann is sent tumbling as McCullum slides his body underneath him, but no damage done

15.5

Swann to Styris, 1 run

tapped into the covers to rotate the strike again

Read full commentary

Best performances - batters

Spike Graph

Wagon Zone

BB McCullum

60 runs (51)

5 fours0 six

Productive shot

leg glance

20 runs

1 four0 six

Control

87%

LJ Wright

ENG

52 runs (38)

6 fours2 sixes

Productive shot

off side drive on front foot

25 runs

3 fours1 six

Control

79%

Best performances - bowlers

GD Elliott

ECO

4.6

KD Mills

ECO

4.8

View more stats

Match details

Edgbaston, Birmingham
Toss	New Zealand, elected to field first
Series	New Zealand tour of England and Scotland
Season	2008
Series result	England led the 5-match series 1-0
Match number	ODI no. 2709
Hours of play (local time)	10.45 start, First Session 10.45-14.15, Interval 14.15-15.00, Second Session 15.00-18.30.
Match days	18 June 2008 - day (50-over match)
ODI debut	Grant Elliott
Umpires	Ian Gould Steve Davis
TV Umpire	Nigel Llong
Reserve Umpire	Richard Kettleborough
Match Referee	Javagal Srinath