Close New Zealand 151 for 5 (Harris 55*, McMillan 41, Caddick 4-57)
scorecard

Persistent rain prevented any play at all on the second day of the third and final Test at Auckland, and the forecast for tomorrow is not good either. Auckland dawned grey and wet this morning, and although things brightened up briefly around 11am, the drizzle returned shortly afterwards, and at 2.15pm everyone decided enough was enough. A few spectators hung on grimly until the end, but an empty Eden Park looked anything but a paradise.

It was the second time in the series - following the first day of the Wellington Test - that an entire day had been lost to the weather, and the chances are tomorrow could be another washout. The outfield at Eden Park drains very badly, so even the smallest downpour can cause a delay, especially now that the water table is so high.

With New Zealand 151 for 5 in their first innings, any chance of a result is fading with every shower, and the likelihood is that England will fly home on Thursday with their first series win since Sri Lanka last year. The weather may take some of the gloss off what would be England's fifth Test without defeat, but a 1-0 series win would also be a fair reflection of the difference between the two sides.

Three more full days' play could well be enough to force a result on a pitch that has helped the seamers who have put the ball in the right place - yesterday, this amounted to Andy Caddick - but we're unlikely now to find out whether Chris Harris's grit would have been enough to square the series.

Squibs don't come much damper.

New Zealand 1 Mark Richardson, 2 Lou Vincent, 3 Stephen Fleming (capt), 4 Chris Harris, 5 Nathan Astle, 6 Craig McMillan, 7 Adam Parore (wk), 8 Andre Adams, 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 Daryl Tuffey, 11 Chris Drum.

England 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Nasser Hussain (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Mark Ramprakash, 7 Andrew Flintoff, 8 James Foster (wk), 9 Ashley Giles, 10 Andy Caddick, 11 Matthew Hoggard.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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