right into the blockhole again - good bowling - and McCullum declines the second as long-on swoops
England vs New Zealand, 2nd ODI at Birmingham, Jun 18 2008 - Ball by Ball Commentary
NO RESULT
2nd ODI, Birmingham, June 18, 2008, New Zealand tour of England and Scotland
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NZ
Full commentary
end of over 1910 runs
NZ: 127/2CRR: 6.68 • RRR: 8.50
Scott Styris19 (24b 1x4)
Brendon McCullum60 (51b 5x4)
Luke Wright 3-0-20-0
Graeme Swann 5-0-26-0
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
18.5
4
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
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
•
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 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
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
•
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 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
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
•
Wright to Styris, no run
defended back to the bowler
16.1
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
1
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
1
Swann to Styris, 1 run
tapped into the covers to rotate the strike again
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