New Zealand were denied a series-levelling NatWest Series victory in farcical circumstances tonight when the umpires called off play when they were in sight of a comfortable triumph over England.
Chasing a target of 160 off 23 overs set by the Duckworth-Lewis method for deciding weather-affected one-day matches, the tourists were well placed on 127 for two after 19 overs when umpires Steve Davis and Ian Gould halted play at Edgbaston.
Providing the tourists did not lose another wicket, they needed just seven runs off the final over to complete victory in 20 overs - the minimum required to constitute a match under the playing regulations.
It was a farcical ending to the rain-affected encounter after England had blatantly attempted to slow the game down by taking more than an hour to bowl their first 14 overs and 83 minutes to deliver the 19 overs - ICC regulations stipulate each team should bowl 14.28 overs an hour.
But their time-wasting tactics, which included conferences virtually at the end of every over and six bowling changes inside the first 11 overs, worked and England will travel to Bristol for Saturday's third match of the series with their 1-0 lead intact.
‘The number of balls left shouldn't come into it if that's the way the conditions are,’ explained umpire Davis.
‘For consistency with our rulings earlier in the day we had to come off - there were two teams out there struggling to stand up.’
As if to rub salt into New Zealand's already raw wounds, however, six members of England's one-day squad were seen running on the outfield less than 20 minutes after the umpires had ruled the rain had made the outfield unsafe to continue the match.
The controversial ending marred what had been an impressive display from the tourists, who suffered comprehensive defeats in both the Twenty20 International and the opening match of this five-match series.
After winning the toss and bravely putting England into bat just four days after doing the same and conceding 307 runs in the opening match, New Zealand profited from a sudden rain burst after just 12.4 overs of a match already reduced to 29 overs by early morning rain.
England were progressing impressively with Luke Wright racing to 52 off 38 balls when he holed out to long-off just as the umpires halted play with England on 77 for three.
His innings, which included six fours and two sixes, enabled England to overcome the loss of Warwickshire's Ian Bell to the third ball of the innings when he gave a leading edge to mid-off.
Kevin Pietersen also perished cheaply having resisted the temptation to play his newly-legalised switch shot and was caught at deep mid-off trying to hit over the top.
But Wright's demise forced England to rebuild when play resumed and they struggled for the remainder of their innings with Ravi Bopara being run out in the second over after the resumption after a complete mix-up with captain Paul Collingwood.
Durham all-rounder Collingwood reacted to the miscommunication by forging a crucial 46-run stand with Owais Shah, which enabled their side to set a challenging total.
Both batsmen fell to shots caught in the deep off debutant Grant Elliott, who was called into the squad as cover for the injured Jacob Oram on Monday and finished with impressive figures of three for 23 from his three overs.
After a further delay between innings, New Zealand were given the final adjusted target and set off impressively with openers Jamie How and Brendon McCullum sharing a 25-run partnership in just four overs.
How mistimed an attempted clip through the on-side and picked out Shah at short midwicket, but McCullum ensured New Zealand remained on course with his first half-century of the series.
Having built a reputation as one of the most aggressive one-day players in world cricket, this was one of McCullum's more patient innings but just as vital to New Zealand's cause.
He hit just five boundaries in his unbeaten 60 off 51 balls, but kept New Zealand above the asking rate for nearly all their reply.
Ross Taylor even surpassed McCullum for aggression, racing to 25 off 21 balls before being caught on the midwicket boundary - only for Scott Styris to steady the tourists' nerves by contributing 19 to a 48-run stand.
With rain and bad light contributing to the tension, England's go-slow tactics finally succeeded when the umpires called a halt with New Zealand desperately close to ending their losing run and forcing both sides to settle for a contentious no result.
