At the 15-over mark New Zealand were 67/2 with captain Stephen Fleming on 21 and Craig McMillan on 14.

The rain which forced the players from the field twice during the England innings looked unlikely to affect the rest of the game.

In what is a must win game for England who are defending 244/5, New Zealand started cautiously and lost Astle to the first ball of the third over when Darren Gough won an appeal for caught behind against Astle when replays showed he got nowhere near the ball. He was out for two.

Chris Nevin got to 21, after playing two lovely shots to the boundary, one an off-drive and the other a cover drive, but then next ball he had the ball fly high in the air from his bat to be held by substitute fielder Ben Hollioake who was fielding in place of Nick Knight who received three stitches after he was hit in the jaw by rookie New Zealand fast bowler Ian Butler.

It was left to captain Stephen Fleming and Craig McMillan to turn the innings around as the English looked to pull a much more effective performance together in the field.

Despite the loss of the wickets they kept the score moving and saw the 50 up in the 11th over. Fleming played one superb off-drive off the back foot to send the ball from Matthew Hoggard all along the ground to the boundary.

McMillan hit the ball hard from the outset with one fine cut shot behind point off Hoggard.

Gough again looked the pick of the England fast-medium attack and had one for 16 off his six overs.

They ended on 244/5.

Nick Knight played a key hand while scoring 80 but they really needed him to go on. Instead it was left to Graham Thorpe to do his bit, and he did, scoring his half century off 48 balls and guiding the side through the vital last overs.

In the 47th over, bowled by Chris Cairns, he took successive fours from Chris Cairns' bowling, one pulled backward of square and the second powerfully square driven. But then in Cairns' next, the 49th, Thorpe pulled a ball which seemed destined for six.

However, Nathan Astle was perched on the boundary, and leapt high to pull in the chance to have Thorpe on his way for 52 off 53 balls.

Cairns ended with three wickets for 51 off his 10 overs.

In the last over, Andrew Flintoff attempted to hit Adams for six but he found Lou Vincent just inside the mid-wicket boundary where he held the catch with Flintoff out for 19 off 21 balls.

Paul Collingwood then faced three scoreless balls before hitting the last ball for four.

Knight and Thorpe had worked the ball around during the 30s but the run rate remained consistently around the 4.4 mark.

They did have a hard chance to pick up Knight when he was on 55 from Vettori's bowling. He attempted the reverse sweep, and Lou Vincent fielding right on the edge of the inner circle leapt to parry the ball up in the air but too far away from himself to gain it on the rebound.

The 150 came up in the 35th over. Fleming brought back Tuffey to bowl his last two overs. He maintained his consistent line and ended his 10 overs with none for 39, an impressive effort under the circumstances.

Rain forced the players from the field in the 42nd over. England at that stage were 185/2, Knight was on 73 and Thorpe on 31.

Fast-medium bowler Daryl Tuffey and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori worked nicely in unison to restrict the scoring between the 20th and 30th overs. Despite having wickets in hand, England scored only 38 runs.

At the 30 over mark, England were 131/2, with Nick Knight on 48 and Graham Thorpe just arrived at the wicket.

Hussain tried to sweep Harris but misread the line and was bowled around his legs for 24 off 48 balls, 16 of them being faced before he had scored.

New Zealand returned from the rain break after 13 overs and calmed things down with Andre Adams and Chris Cairns bowling a maiden each.

Once over the hurdle of his slow start Hussain started to go for his shots. An attacking off drive for four off Cairns was a fierce shot while he also took four off his legs through mid-wicket from Adams, who finished his six-over spell with none for 30.

Vettori replaced him and immediately found Knight unleashing the reverse sweep, the first attempt of which went for four runs.

Tuffey came back and tied things up from the southern end and while England brought up their 100 in the 22nd over, the run rate diminished considerably. Hussain broke the deadlock and cut Tuffey for four in the 27th over, the same over as the 50 partnership between the pair was posted.

England had just lost Marcus Trescothick, caught by Chris Harris in the gully from Chris Cairns' bowling. It was a good blow for New Zealand after England, and Trescothick especially, had begun to mount a charge on the New Zealanders. He scored 41 off 50 balls, including six fours, as 71 runs were added for the opening stand.

Nick Knight was 19 not out at the rain break and fortunate to still be there after twice slipping when out of his crease and just managing to scramble his bat back over the line before the preying point fieldsman Lou Vincent got the ball back into the stumps.

Knight was also on the receiving end of a ball into the visor on his helmet from fast bowler Ian Butler. He needed some medical attention at the end of the over to a cut.

It was an ideal batting strip with a fast outfield, lightning fast compared to that at Wellington's WestpacTrust Stadium on Saturday. The batsmen only had to place defensive shots in the right place and they were able to pick up singles and twos.

They were helped by a diet of no balls, especially from Ian Butler, who bowled five in his first four overs which cost 21 runs, and a loose second over by Andre Adams which saw 13 runs taken from it as England brought up their 50 off 75 balls.

Trescothick was especially effective, pulling and driving with good effect. He also took to Cairns' third over as 12 runs were taken, nine of them by him, before he was out to the last ball.

Daryl Tuffey was the most efficient of the New Zealand bowlers conceding only 14 runs from his four overs while Cairns headed from the field with one for 15 from his three overs and Adams none for 19 off his two overs.

Two-nil down in the five-match series, England must win today to keep the series alive.

They have decided not to include Ben Hollioake or Jeremy Snape.

New Zealand have made one predictable change - Ian Butler coming in for Brendon McCullum.

Stephen Fleming won the toss and asked England to bat first on what is the best looking pitch in the series so far.

Light drizzle fell in the 90 minutes before the scheduled start of the game but it wasn't heavy enough to delay the start of the match. It is still heavily overcast but local opinion is that the game should be completed without interruption.

A near full house, with a capacity of around 13,000, is expected for the game.

Umpires today are Doug Cowie and Brent Bowden with Tony Hill, the third umpire. Denis Lindsay is the match referee.

The teams are:

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Chris Nevin, Lou Vincent, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Daniel Vettori, Andre Adams, Daryl Tuffey, Ian Butler. Brendon McCullum (12th man).

England: Nasser Hussain (captain), Nick Knight, Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Craig White, Ashley Giles, Darren Gough, Matthew Hoggard.