McCullum (left) is aghast as his heroics end up in vain

England captain Paul Collingwood insisted the umpires had done the right thing in declaring the second one-day international at Edgbaston a no-result.

Had one more over been bowled, either team could have won under the Duckworth/Lewis rules but rain won out.

"I know it was near the cut-off point but both sides were in with a chance and if we had played another four overs it would have been farcical," he said.

"The umpires made the right decision - the rain was getting very heavy."

Kiwi opener Brendon McCullum, who was unbeaten on 60, made his feelings known after the match, and Collingwood expressed some sympathy for the tourists.

"When you get so close to finishing a game and the rain comes you are not going to be happy, they had a good run chase going and obviously he's disappointed," the skipper said.

I think we did well to get as many overs as we did in - the forecast was terrible England captain Paul Collingwood

"But one more wicket and we were ahead on Duckworth/Lewis.

"It was a good game, it's a shame the heavens opened, but I think we did well to get as many overs as we did in - the forecast was terrible.

"It was very dark but it didn't come down to that it was the rain that was falling at that point."

There was some consternation when after such a long delay to the start of the match, the mid-innings break remained at the scheduled length of 30 minutes.

"When it is a shortened game we thought we were going to be back out in 10 or 15 minutes but that's the regulation so maybe it can be looked at," Collingwood admitted.

Commenting on what had taken place earlier, Collingwood was pleased with Luke Wright's contribution, the Sussex all-rounder firing a rapid 52.

"We know what he can do at the top of the order but he played some fantastic shots," he said.

It's obviously unfortunate but those are the rules of the game. There's time allocated and we should have got the overs in but unfortunately we didn't.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori was disappointed, but not unrealistic about the doomed outcome of the day's play.

"I think there is a responsibility on umpires to make sure teams get through their overs as quickly as possible," he said.

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"But if we honest we'd have done the same thing if we were under the pump like they were.

"We will make that point to the umpires in the match report as we have to assist their performance openly and honestly without being subjective.

"It's just an objective viewpoint and that's what we'll try to put across."