England's Hopes washed away by the Rain

New Zealand has claimed the final one-day match with England in Christchurch by four wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis method and thus secured the series 3-1.

Put in to bat first, England struggled for runs and Daniel Vettori took 2-28, but Luke Wright fired four sixes in 47 and Dimitri Mascarenhas hit 22 off the final over.

Chasing 243, Brendon McCullum (photo) gave the Kiwis a stunning start, blazing five fours and six sixes in 77 off 43 balls. Ryan Sidebottom struck twice in two balls, but then the rain had the final day.

Nothing could separate the teams after 680 runs in a frantic tie in the fourth match at Napier, but there were some crucial differences in the finale.
New Zealand had a balanced attack with accomplished slower bowlers, while their opening batsmen made a mockery of England's assertion that it was a difficult pitch to score freely on. England's 100 arrived in the 25th over, New Zealand reached theirs in the 11th. Only nine runs came from the first five overs after England were asked to bat, Phil Mustard skewing to cover in the third.

Vettori was able to complete his three powerplay segments in one bundle and bowled his 10 overs consecutively. Just 11 boundaries came in the first half of the innings and again Vettori's clever variations caused problems, a quicker delivery pinning Alastair Cook on the crease for 42. Kevin Pietersen hit three fours and reached 39 in fairly reasonable time, but was also not at his happiest with the conditions. Patel's second delivery tempted him to attack and, slightly deceived by the pace, he dragged to deep mid-wicket.

Vettori tossed one up to lure Paul Collingwood out of his ground, and some sharp turn beat the edge and saw him comfortably stumped.
Twelve overs passed without a boundary, but then Wright quickly set about changing the complexion of the innings. He launched two sixes over wide mid-wicket and proved he was no one-trick pony with two off-side maximums, driving square of the wicket and then backing away to hit over cover. Wright dominated his partnership with Owais Shah, which reached 50 from 67 balls.

But remarkably all this was soon eclipsed by a phenomenal display of hitting from McCullum. The 26-year-old was particularly incensed by Stuart Broad, running down the line of the stumps at the end of the England innings, and took out his anger on the England bowlers.

Early wickets might have been a factor, and Jesse Ryder survived a half chance in the second over when Ian Bell got a hand to a firm square drive. James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom found some swing but England went on the defensive and the only movement on the ball then was when it bounced around the terraces.

McCullum was given two reprieves in quick succession, on 30 by Cook who got two hands to a stinging cover drive but could not hold on, and again on 31 when Broad failed to get to a spiralling top edge at third man. After that he smashed the final two balls of Sidebottom's over over mid-wicket for six, and launched a hapless Anderson for three successive maximums.
McCullum was dropped for a third time by Collingwood low off his own bowling, but the next ball was a good one that nipped back and ended the splendid Kiwi's scintillating performance.

At that stage 125 were needed, with 34 overs remaining. Jamie How edged behind and Anderson's painful figures were ameliorated when Scott Styris mis-hit to mid-off. Then - in his final over - Sidebottom, finding swing again under the lights, trapped debutant Daniel Flynn and bowled Jacob Oram with a beauty, with 46 were still required.

Light drizzle added further intrigue, but when it intensified, it ensured there would be no miraculous England triumph. There was some confusion when - after the forced rain break - England returned to the field, only to be told by the umpires that they had already lost the match under the complicated - and little understood by the public - Duckworth-Lewis method. So, all was over without another over, and a generally interesting series with great performances on both sides ended in an anti-climax.
New Zealand's win is well deserved, as they dominated the first two matches and showed skills and strength in all of them. England will need more consistency and discipline, if they want to succeed in future where they failed this time.

Fifth One-Day International (Christchurch)
England: 242-7 (50 overs) <> New Zealand: 213-6 (37 overs)
(Duckworth-Lewis method was used, reducing New Zealand's target to 213)