New Zealand vs Pakistan, 2nd ODI at Queenstown, Jan 26 2011 - Ball by Ball Commentary

15.21 pm Game abandoned. So that's that. The third ODI will be played on 29th. The forecast doesn't look too good for that as well. Let's hope we get a good day. See you then. Bye.

---

15.10 Laurence: "You guys have it all wrong...As for rain songs it's got to be 'Rain Fall Down' by the Stones and 'Lost in the Flood' by Springsteen. Unfortunately, this match seems to be the latter."

In other news, Matthew Bell has retired. Leigh C: "As somone who knows Matty Bell, it's a pretty sad day for supporters of Wellington Cricket. He's been a big runs scorer in years gone by but it's good to see he knows it's time to move on and is looking forward to life after cricket."

Dazzleator: "and how could you forget 'Maybe The Rain', by NZ's very own music icon Dave Dobbyn!"

14.45 More rainy day songs from Gazza: "Rihanna - Umbrella.

Butch Cassidy - Raindrops keep falling on my head."

Greg: "Following on from Lee: I always wonder why we have int'l cricket going through into April in New Zealand. By April we are well and truly into Autumn which is starting to get wet, including in most of the drier parts of NZ. And cold in some places too. Our Int'l cricket season should end in March. March is often a good and settled weather month."

Ben: "@ Lee It's funny how people only say this when it rains. The actual truth is, this is the first day where rain has seriously affected international cricket this summer. It happens from time to time, even in "proper" cricket countries like South Africa and England."

Chris from New Zealand: ""cut-off time for play to start is 4.35pm"...how convenient it is that another starts at 4:30 that will be more interesting. Come on England!"

Brendan: "I hate to say it guys, but rain is forecast for the 3rd ODI in Christchurch this Saturday as well. Could this be a repeat of the Windies ODI series in 2009??? A no result in Queenstown, a rain affected result in Christchurch (that went to the Windies by the way) and a no result at Eden Park in which Martin Guptill smacked his 100 on debut! Geez, i'm sure this is deva'vu!!!"

Karl: "Given that we are still in January I think both Lee and Greg need to wake up and check the calendar."

14.40 Omair Siddiqui's an optimist: "Look at the bright side! Now this series will have a result! A 6-game series could have ended up 3-3!"

Lee writes in: "The sad truth is that New Zealand is not a great place for cricket, environmentally, and it kind of shows in our game."

Omer: "Guess what? Its raining in Saudi Arabia." Now you know.

Btw, cut-off time for play to start is 4.35pm. Given that it's still raining and the outfield's wet, expect the umpires to call off the game sometime soon.

14.30 Update The rain is getting heavier, and doesn't look like clearing up, fans at the ground are starting to leave.

Daniel: "Fantasic, now i actually have to do some work now instead of sitting here pretending. Thanks heaps, rain."

Rishi Garjia sends some songs for the wet weather: "Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again, Phil Collins - I Wish It Would Rain Down."

The Joker doesn't seem to be joking when he suggests: "What they need to do in small countries like NZ is hire a small plane for each team that can fly them to another ground in NZ within a few hours. I live in Rotorua and its the sunniest day we have had for a while, which is only a few hours flight! (not that we would get an ODI here but you get the point)."

14.25 Dave seems upset that there's not much play likely. "Why do they have such a long break between matches? The last one was on Saturday, today is Wed. They could have played this yesterday when the sun was shining and the forecast ok. Instead we saw pictures on TV yesterday of them practicing in the sunshine. Doesn't take 3 days to get from Wellington to Queenstown! Ridiculous."

Cam Hodgson writes in: "Turning attention to the National U-23 competition on at the moment. Day 3 of 3..makes no sense, difficult to get any results in 3-day games. One more day surely can't hurt each game! All 3 games headed for a draw."

14.10 More of the same in Queenstown. Steady rain, don't hold your breath if you are expecting this to re-start.

13.20 Update Early lunch in Queenstown. Still raining and becoming heavier too.

12.51 Brian Waddle, from Radiosport, has some bad news for us. He says, "I would be surprised if we get any cricket in today". Hmmm

12.48 That rain is still on. The covers are of course on. So, I am afraid more wait in store for us. Pretty murky stuff.

12.19 pm Rain stops play.Ahmed Shehzad was up and running in some style here but rain has put a break on the entertainment. The PA guy has some sense of humour here: He is playing CCR's 'Have you ever seen the rain'. Oh well. Players head back to the pavilion.

More wait for us. Download some songs. CCR is a good start. We will be back as and when we get any updates.

Cam Hodgson: "Seriously, get Hamish Bennett on. I understand they want James Franklin to get the new ball to swing, but it's not happening. All he's doing is bowling dollies at less than 120kmph. A bit of a waste really."

Well, Oram to bowl

Aaron: "Why oh why did they open with Franklin, who, on a good day, can bowl at a mere 120kph? Bennett and Southee should be opening the bowling every game. We need pace at the start of the innings!"

48 overs per innings. Batting Powerplay is 4 overs. 2 bowlers can bowl only 9 overs each