New Zealand robbed one over from victory as Colly crew stage go-slow

England 164 all out
New Zealand 127-2 (After 19 overs - target 160 from 23 overs D/L method)
Rain stopped play - no result

Cricket faced huge embarrassment last night as New Zealand were robbed of victory at Edgbaston when umpires Ian Gould and Steve Davis called a halt in the gloom and rain just one over before a positive result would have been achieved.

A miserable day of delays, interruptions, poor over-rates and a lack of common sense ended at 7.30pm with New Zealand, chasing what became 160 to win off 23 overs, denied the chance to level the NatWest series when they were well placed on 127 for two after 19 overs.

Miserable end: England's Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen leave the field with New Zealand's Brendan McCullum and Scott Styris

Twenty overs needed to be bowled to constitute a match and the Kiwis, had they lost no more wickets, would have required seven runs from a 20th over to win by the Duckworth/Lewis method.

The finale capped a day New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori later called 'a debacle' during which the ICC insisted there must be a break of 30 minutes between the innings even though the start was delayed until 3pm and the game was reduced first to 29, then 24 and finally 23 overs.

England took 83 minutes to bowl 19 overs and, as a final insult to the spectators, several members of their side emerged 20 minutes after the end for training runs on the outfield. Apparently it was too wet for a game but not too wet to sprint on.

Over: McCullum and Collingwood

Australian umpire Davis said: 'We had to be consistent. We hadn't played earlier when conditions were the same and we couldn't play at the end. I can understand the frustration but there were two teams out there and we had to be fair to them.'

But why the 30-minute break when so much time had already been lost?

'That's the playing conditions,' said Davis. 'We can't just change them because it makes sense to do so.'

England captain Paul Collingwood defended an over-rate which barely crept above 13 an hour.

He said: 'It wasn't tactical. It was slow because of the weather. The 30-minute interval should be looked at.'

At least the crowd saw Luke Wright hit a powerful 52 in England's 162 and a measured 60 in reply from Brendon McCullum but no left-handed sixes from Kevin Pietersen.

Vettori added: 'We feel hard done by. There was a bit of gamesmanship by England but we would have done the same. The umpires should have taken more control.'

Match referee Javagal Srinath said there would be no action against England and he was satisfied by their over-rates and conduct.