New Zealand complete one-day series win

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand -- England failed to complete their comeback to level the series after slumping to a comprehensive four-wicket Duckworth-Lewis defeat in the final one-day cricket international against New Zealand in Christchurch.

Needing victory to level the series, despite being comprehensively outplayed in the opening two games, the tourists were unable to match their performances of the previous two matches and handed New Zealand a 3-1 series triumph.

Having set what they thought was a competitive 242 for seven after a late flurry of boundaries, England needed a good start if they were to follow up series wins over India and Sri Lanka with a drawn series in New Zealand.

But instead they allowed Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder to enjoy another aggressive partnership after missing three early catches which set the tone for New Zealand to stay on course for victory.

New Zealand progressed to within 30 runs of victory on 213 for six but rain halted play for long enough to secure victory as they had already passed the Duckworth-Lewis target.

England did briefly rattle New Zealand as they progressed towards their target and claimed three wickets in seven balls, while captain Daniel Vettori appeared to survive an appeal for a catch behind.

It was yet another story of missed chances for England, however, with Ryder being missed by Ian Bell at cover before he had scored and McCullum missed on 30, 31 and 77 during a ruthless 103-run stand off only 68 balls.

New Zealand were restricted once McCullum's powerful innings of 77 off 43 balls, which included five fours and six sixes, was ended when he mis-timed a pull shot and was bowled by Paul Collingwood.

But despite their middle order collapse, which was sparked by two wickets off successive deliveries by Ryan Sidebottom, when showers halted play New Zealand were well ahead of the required total they needed under the Duckworth-Lewis method for settling weather-hit matches.

England had only reached their total after a flurry of late boundaries from Luke Wright and Dimitri Mascarenhas, who added 65 off the final five overs with the latter hitting 22 off the final over of the innings from Ryder.

But until that late flurry, England had found it difficult to score runs at a consistent rate and it took Wright's 47 off 40 balls, which included two fours and four sixes, to give the innings impetus.

Mascarenhas followed Wright's lead by hammering 29 off only 12 balls but England's lapses during the early stages of New Zealand's innings effectively sealed their fate.

Bangladesh hold an overall lead of 147 runs over South Africa on the second day of the opening Test in Dhaka.

After bowling out South Africa for 170 in their first innings, Bangladesh reached 125-4 in their second knock.

Umpire Steve Bucknor, standing in his first Test since he was dropped from the controversial series between Australia and India, had a tricky decision to make when South African AB De Villiers was caught after the ball hit the ground twice before reaching his bat.

De Villers was going strong after hitting a six and seven fours in his 46, and he stood his ground until Bucknor put up his finger.

The law states that a ball is legitimate if it does not bounce more than twice before striking the bat.

De Villers said he was aware of the rule but thought that it might have been called a no-ball. E-mail to a friend