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12.20 pm: We’re all set for the start. The Scottish openers are out. New Zealand have taken their fielding positions. A measured applause from the crowd, not to full capacity yet but with West Indies taking on Australia after this, we can expect a bigger turn-out. So finally, we have a game. Mightily relieved, just as you all are. Lets hope for another belter, just like yesterday, albeit in a dramatically reduced fixture. By the way, it’ll be Siddhartha Talya taking you through the commentary today. Thanks for your patience all this while. All set! O’Brien to Watson.

Amit: “Since It’s a seven-over-a-side game, we can now expect a great contest and New Zealand may be tested. A good chance for the Scots.” Righto, it’s probably their best chance to cause an upset here.

Here are the game permutations due to the reduction in overs. Just two overs for the powerplay, two bowlers can bowl a maximum of two overs each, and three additional bowlers with an over each.

Teams:

Scotland: Hamilton (capt), Watts, Coetzer, Poonia, Smith, Watson, Mccallum, Wright, Drummond, Stander, Macleod, 12: Berrington

New Zealand: Mccullum (capt), Ryder, Guptill, Taylor, Styris, Oram, Mcglashan, Franklin, N Mccullum, Butler, O’Brien, 12: Broom

Toss: The news from The Oval from our man Alex Brown is that New Zealand have won the toss and opted to bowl. As we had told you earlier, New Zealand are without Daniel Vettori who is out due to a shoulder injury. McCullum will lead in his place. Kyle Mills is also injured. No Neil Broom.

“Chasing in a shorter game will give us some sort of advantage,” said McCullum. “It’s not rocket science in these conditions,” says Gavin Hamilton, the Scotland captain.

12pm Thank heavens. The news is that the game is due to start at 12.20 pm. It’s a seven-over-a-side game.

11.40pm There are plenty of ways to kill time in situations like these. I’m heading off for a couple of minutes to play a game of office cricket with my colleague. You guys can check out our new Page 2 for the tournament.

HP, another reader, says it’s also raining in Nottingham where India are due to play Bangladesh in the evening. Bad news all around.

We might not have any play for the moment, but there’s still a while to go in the competition. So here’s something new for you to try out: Cricket Radio powered by Cricinfo. Throughout the ICC World Twenty20, Cricinfo will be carrying live commentary from all matches. So please click here for details. The cost is US$1.99 per match or US$9.99 for a season ticket to all games. This service is not available in India or South Africa.

11.22am It has stopped raining at The Oval, but the outfield is wet. The super-soppers are out, and it’ll be a while before there is any play. The umpires still have to go out and inspect.

11.10am Bad news. It’s still drizzling at The Oval, and no word yet about a possible start. What we do know is that if the game does get underway, it will be a reduced one. There’s another game scheduled to take place at the same venue after this one, between West Indies and Australia. So, lets just wait.

Reg: “so this match cannot be extended because the second game at the same ground today is also a day game? while the third game today at Nottingham is a D/N game? can anyone else see how this scheme could screw up? and that a much safer plan was available? can anyone else NOT see? ” Blame it all on Steve Elworthy, the tournament director.

11am Right, so it’s now 11, and the game is certain to be a reduced one, if at all we have it. They’re still showing highlights of one of Tendulkar’s centuries against England from a bygone age, so nothing encouraging at the moment.

10.45am Some important news from Andrew Miller in London. If the game does get underway, Brendon McCullum will lead New Zealand, as Daniel Vettori has had an injection on his shoulder. He’ll miss the game. Martin Williamson, our Executive Editor, who lives around ten miles from the Oval, says it has stopped raining and is brightening up. So we may, after all, have some play. Fingers crossed.

10.37 am: Our man Andrew Miller in the UK says it’s still spilling down. We’ll just have to stay put.

10.24 am: Nothing from the ground yet. We’re all patiently waiting. Just around couple of hours to go before the cut-off. If the game does start at 12.30, it’ll then be a five-over fixture. The purists will be outraged.

10 am: The game should have started now, but hasn’t. They’re feeding us highlights from the previous game, where England were humiliated. Check out the reactions from some of the UK papers about the result. Our UK Editor Andrew Miller says England deserved what they got, see if you agree.

9.55 am: Harper, the umpire, says “we’re hoping it’ll clear up in a moment.” They’ve estimated it might take about 40 minutes. Harper tries to be funny, but he never is. Said something about poodles, and was the only guy who chuckled. But it’s good to see his spirits are up in such damp circumstances.

9.51 am: Just a trickle of fans on the ground, and most of them are holding up their umbrellas. Distressing sight. The moment we hit 11 am, we’ll have a reduced game. The moment it’s 12.30 pm, its adios.

Alver is treading dangerous territory here. Hope we won’t get a barrage of e-mails from folks in the UK, but there’s not much happening for the moment - “To all those UK people who said why on earth is the IPL held in South Africa with the first matches had rain, well eat your heart out because look wt happening now.”

9.40 am: Daryl Harper, one of the umpires, says there is a chance of the weather clearing up. He says he can wait until 11 am to get a full game, but if the game doesn’t start before 12.30 pm, then we’re done. So no game then - if we get past the 12.30 cut-off - and the teams will share the points. Lets hope that doesn’t happen, though the Scots wouldn’t mind that all too much, going by the predictions and their recent form.

9.35 am Not good news, I’m afraid - the game is delayed. The pitch is covered, it’s still raining and the outfield is looking pretty soggy at the moment. Absolutely atrocious.

The forecast was not encouraging when I logged on this morning, it said “light rain”. It hasn’t changed. Terrible stuff.

9.23 am: Nick has depressed us even more, but lets wait for the official news shall we: “It has been raining all morning and most likely all night, everything is saturated a start on time is not likely.”

9.15 am local time: The first comment of the day from our friend Simon from the UK: “What’s the likelihood of a start on time, weather is looking a bit dodgy.” That’s bad news, but we don’t yet have the pictures. Hopefully, we can see a turnaround in the next fifteen minutes.

Hello and welcome folks to the second game of what promises to be a fascinating World Twenty20. We had a ripper of an opener yesterday, and though Scotland are not quite Netherlands in terms of form - they’ve never beaten a Test playing nation in either an ODI or a Twenty20 game - they should be capable of putting up some fight. New Zealand have had a nice warm-up outing but they ought to be a little wary, especially after the complacent hosts were taught a lesson yesterday. There’s a while to go for the toss, so do read the preview in the meantime.

Andy Moles, the New Zealand coach, has called this game a potential ‘banana skin’ but his opponents have had a poor record of late. They barely managed to retain their ODI status and failed to qualify for the 2011 World Cup. More in Will Luke’s analysis of the Scotland team.

0.1

O’Brien to Watson, FOUR, The Scots are away, short of a length on the off, goes for a mighty pull, takes the outside edge, flies over the slips for a boundary towards third man

0.2

O’Brien to Watson, 1 leg bye, held it back again, straying in line just slightly, tries to pull it behind square, is struck on the thighs, they steal a leg bye

0.3

O’Brien to Poonia, 1 leg bye, makes room and the bowler chases him, drops it into the off side for a single, another leg bye there, clipped the pads

0.4

O’Brien to Watson, FOUR, poor ball, bangs it in short, on middle, comes forward and swings it away over square leg for a boundary, encouraging start

0.5

O’Brien to Watson, FOUR, even better, this one was pitched up, in the slot ,he makes room and hoicks it over midwicket for another four

0.6

O’Brien to Watson, FOUR, three in a row, O’Brien should blog about this,good length on middle, smacks it over the bowlers head, through the line for his third boundary, 18 off the first over

1.1

Franklin to Poonia, no run, almost, a length ball outside off, tries to drill it down the ground towards mid-off, misses, a stifled appeal for a caught-behind but there was no contact

1.2

Franklin to Poonia, 1 run, on middle and leg, pushed through to mid-on for a quick single

1.3

Franklin to Watson, FOUR, Watson is in fine nick, slightly short on middle, moves away and pulls it over midwicket, firmly struck, gets some good elevation on it, bounces a couple of times before beating deep midwicket for a boundary

1.4

Franklin to Watson, 2 runs, full and wide, makes room and steers it through a diving point for a single

1.5

Franklin to Watson, FOUR, the runs keep flowing, overpitched outside off, makes room and slashes hard, gets an under-edge well wide of the diving keeper for a boundary

1.6

Franklin to Watson, 1 run, low full toss outside off, punched down to mid-on, takes a single and keeps the strike

This stand is worth 30, and Poonia has just scored 1

Butler comes in, replacing O’Brien

2.1

Butler to Watson, OUT, gets a wicket straightaway, the change of pace does the trick, an offcutter bowled full outside off, Watson attempts to clear deep extra cover, the shot was on, but didn’t get the distance, Taylor stood patiently and caught it with ease

c Taylor b Butler 27 (9m 10b 6×4 0×6) SR: 270.00

Nevertheless, an encouraging start for Scotland. Watson played a valuable cameo

2.2

Butler to Poonia, 2 runs, slightly short outside off, makes room and punches it over cover, wide of mid-off for a couple

2.3

Butler to Poonia, 1 run, well struck, leaps and crashes it towards cover where a fumble allows them a single

Coetzer to face now. Remember, the powerplay is done

2.4

Butler to Coetzer, FOUR, but it makes no difference to him, short and wide, slashes hard, cuts it away powerfully wide of third man for a one-bounce four

2.5

Butler to Coetzer, 2 runs, dropped, The Scots are showing some spunk, length ball on middle, lofts it over mid-on, really high, Brendon McCullum runs back but fails to hold on, almost palms it off to the ropes but manages to drag it just back in, they still get two though

2.6

Butler to Coetzer, 2 runs, fullish on middle and leg, swings it away, not well timed though, just wide of deep midwicket for a couple more

Oram comes on to bowl, to stem the flow

3.1

Oram to Poonia, FOUR, they’ve had some luck, full toss outside off, makes room, reaches for it, gets an under edge that bounces over the keeper for four more

3.2

Oram to Poonia, 1 run, low full toss on middle, driven wide of deep midwicket for a single

3.3

Oram to Coetzer, no run, misses out, full toss outside off, goes at it hard but fails to make contact, will be disappointed there, good take by McGlashan

3.4

Oram to Coetzer, no run, struck brutally but straight onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end, another miss, should have got four for that

3.5

Oram to Coetzer, 2 runs, slower one bowled on a good length on middle, wafts it between long-on and deep midwicket for a couple

3.6

Oram to Coetzer, no run, a relatively quiet over, full and wide, tries to cream it through the off-side field, makes no contact

Just three more overs to go. The minnows have done well here

4.1

Ryder to Poonia, 2 runs, they’re running well too, full toss on middle, pushed away into the gap between long-on and deep midwicket for a couple

4.2

Ryder to Poonia, 2 runs, meaty strike, came off the middle, low full toss, drilled past the bowler who just managed to get his fingers to it, gets a couple more between long-off and long-on

4.3

Ryder to Poonia, 1 run, length ball on the off, steered behind point for a single

4.4

Ryder to Coetzer, FOUR, beautifully placed, full and wide, bends low and slices it perfectly between short third man and point, four more, they’re coming at a fair clip now

4.5

Ryder to Coetzer, SIX, this is fun, Coetzer is in prime touch, slower one gone bad, lands full on the off stump, gets under it nicely and smashes it over the long-off boundary for a flat six, powerfully struck

4.6

Ryder to Coetzer, FOUR, we may well ahve another thriller here, full on the off stump, picks the length early, gets to the pitch and crunches it between long-off and deep cover for four more, 19 off that over

5.1

Oram to Poonia, 1 run, slower one by Oram, struck down to long-on for a single

5.2

Oram to Coetzer, 1 run, good length outside off, driven down the ground to long-off

5.3

Oram to Poonia, FOUR, Poonia using his wrists beautifully there,a sub-continental touch on that one, length ball outside off, moves across and clips it uppishly wide of short fine for another boundary

5.4

Oram to Poonia, SIX, Poonia you beauty! That’s disappeared, slower one full on the off, in the slot, bends low and slog-sweeps it way over deep midwicket for a mighty six

5.5

Oram to Poonia, 1 run, in the blockhole outside off, digs it out wide of cover for a single, a 50-run stand, excellent stuff

5.6

Oram to Coetzer, 1 run, low full toss on the offstump, driven to long-off, gets a single, keeps the strike for the final over

Butler to bowl the final over

6.1

Butler to Coetzer, 1 run, full and wide, missed out on a length ball there, drives it crisply to deep cover, will rue the fact that he didn’t find the gap

6.2

Butler to Poonia, 1 run, low full toss outside off, reaches for it and slaps it to mid-off, gave himself too much room there

6.3

Butler to Coetzer, SIX, It’s Scotland’s day, banged in short on middle, goes for the pull, came onto him too quickly but he won’t mind it in hindight, takes the top edge and sails over the ropes over fine leg

Butler’s face wore a distressed look after that shot. New Zealand have a lot of work to do

6.4

Butler to Coetzer, OUT, gets the outside edge this time, not the best of deliveries, full and wide, I would have been tempted to dispatch that over deep cover, so was he, but it took the edge straight to McGlashan

c †McGlashan b Butler 33 (17m 15b 3×4 2×6) SR: 220.00

But another stellar effort. He’s bettered Watson, making 33 off 15. What a contribution in a seven-over game

6.5

Butler to Stander, OUT, run out, full and wide, tries to drill it through the off side, misses, the non-striker sets off for the run, but McGlashan’s under-arm throws finds the stumps

run out 27 (31m 15b 2×4 1×6) SR: 180.00

6.6

Butler to Smith, OUT, three wickets in three balls, a team hat-trick you could call it, full and straight on middle, tries to smash him past over, misses and the stumps are rattled

b Butler 0 (1m 1b 0×4 0×6) SR: 0.00

Scotland have got themselves into an excellent position here. A target of 90 in seven overs is a challenge, irrespective of how many explosive batsmen you have in your side. New Zealand committed the cardinal sin of feeding the Scots with length deliveries for a majority of their innings, and were promptly taken apart. It’s not a packed house at The Oval, but rest assured the crowd is in for some entertainment. Can we have a second major upset in a row? Find out in about ten minutes from now.

This game moves at a frenetic pace. Before we know it, the New Zealand batsmen are out. Ryder and McCullum are out in the middle. Hamilton arranges his field, wears a pretty confident look. Calum McLeod will open the bowling. Here we go! The keeper is up

0.1

MacLeod to BB McCullum, 1 wide, false start, too wide outside the offstump, the batsman lets it go, New Zealand have opened their account

0.1

MacLeod to BB McCullum, 1 run, goes for the shot straightaway, length ball on the off, tries to beat mid-off but gets a thick inside edge towards mid-on, single taken

0.2

MacLeod to Ryder, 1 run, fullish on the off stump, driven down the ground to long-on for a single

0.3

MacLeod to BB McCullum, FOUR, creams it through the off side, attempted yorker, full and wide, makes room and drills it between point and cover

0.4

MacLeod to BB McCullum, FOUR, nicely done, full again, stays his ground and slices it over point for another boundary

The fully clad cheerleaders are on their feet again

0.5

MacLeod to BB McCullum, FOUR, the best of the three, short on the off, cut back in, targeting his chest there but he made room, opened the face and guided it between short third and point for his third sucessive four

0.6

MacLeod to BB McCullum, FOUR, four in a row, New Zealand have bettered the Scots in the first over, length ball on the off, slices it over point, gets some god elevation on that, gets a one-bounce four, 19 off the over, their opponents had managed 18

McCullum improved his form towards the latter half of the IPL, and he’s looking good today as well

1.1

Drummond to Ryder, 3 runs, fullish on middle and leg, poor line, flicked away between deep square leg and fine leg, three more

1.2

Drummond to BB McCullum, 1 run, full on middle, gets to the pitch, presents the full face and drives it down the ground wide of long-off

1.3

Drummond to Ryder, 1 no ball, poor stuff, full tosss outside off, what’s worse, he’s overstepped, driven to mid-off, but freehit time

1.3

Drummond to Ryder, no run, misses out, banged in short on leg stump, goes for the pull, tries to clear square leg, is hit on the shoulders

1.4

Drummond to Ryder, FOUR, superb shot, makes up for the lapse the previous ball, overpitched outside off, gets to the pitch and plays a perfectly executed off drive between mid-off and cover

1.5

Drummond to Ryder, 2 runs, and again but its well fielded at cover, gets his fingers to it, takes off some pace and keeps them down to a couple

1.6

Drummond to Ryder, 1 run, targeting leg stump, flicked away to deep square leg, just a single

The powerplay is done, but New Zealand are on course here

2.1

Wright to Ryder, SIX, picks it up beautifully, in the slot on leg stump, gets forward, bends low and smacks it miles over the deep square-leg boundary

2.2

Wright to Ryder, FOUR, the previous one was sheer class, this was pure power, length ball on leg stump, smashes it wide of long-on for four more

2.3

Wright to Ryder, FOUR, Wright’s getting punished, fullish on leg stump again, drives it between long-on and deep midwicket, the run-chase is well on

2.4

Wright to Ryder, SIX, the best of them all, pure timing on this one, pitches it full outside off, makes just a bit of room and lofts it clean over deep extra cover, just clears the ropes, this is a battering

2.5

Wright to Ryder, OUT, finally, the Scottish bowlers have something to cheer. Another length ball, the only problem this time was that Ryder couldn’t get the desired elevation, struck it cleanly but straight down long-off’s throat where McLeod judged it well

c MacLeod b Wright 31 (13m 12b 3×4 2×6) SR: 258.33

Taylor walks in. If he lives up to his form in the IPL, New Zealand will win this comfortably. Ryder played a useful hand though

2.6

Wright to BB McCullum, no run, fullish outside off, gets forward , and for once, pushes it gently straight to the fielder at point

39 needed off 24. It’s New Zealand’s game to lose now

3.1

Drummond to Taylor, FOUR, poor length, full on middle and leg, clips it into the gap between long-on and deep midwicket for a one-bounce four

3.2

Drummond to Taylor, (no ball) 2 runs, oversteps, its freehit time, short on middle, gets the top edge as he goes for the pull, lands safely wide of fine leg

3.2

Drummond to Taylor, 1 run, OUT, there’s only one way you can get out off a freehit and that’s by way of a run out, fullish outside off, tries to clear extra cover who runs back and spills it but returns an accurate throw to the keeper who takes off the bails to find McCullum well short as he attempts to go for the second, only to receive a delayed response from Taylor

run out 18 (18m 7b 4×4 0×6) SR: 257.14

Oram comes in

3.3

Drummond to Oram, 1 run, lands on leg stump, drives it firmly down the ground to long-on

3.4

Drummond to Taylor, 1 run, was in the slot but he didn’t strike it well enough, hit down to long-on, one more

3.5

Drummond to Oram, 2 runs, decent stuff, low full toss on the off stump, driven wide of long-off, a poor throw to the keeper’s end gives them ample time to come back for the second

3.6

Drummond to Oram, 1 run, nicely done, in the blockhole outside off, dug out wide of extra cover for a single

Scotland need one good over here. They’ve committed the same error as the New Zealanders did, gifting the batsmen with too many length balls. Watson, who did well with the bat, comes to bowl his offies.

4.1

Watson to Oram, no run, good start, flat on the off stump, charges forward but has to adapt to the length, pushes it back to the bowler

4.2

Watson to Oram, FOUR, dropped, what a miss, flat on middle, goes for the slog-sweep, gets the top edge and Drummond at short fine makes a meal of it, spilling it and kicking it away to the boundary, is that the decisive moment?

4.3

Watson to Oram, OUT, or is it this one? Tossed up on middle and leg, Oram is tempted, connects a slog-sweep well this time but finds the fielder at deep midwicket, didn’t get the elevation there, a crucial wicket

c Stander b Watson 8 (3m 6b 1×4 0×6) SR: 133.33

Styris to face

4.4

Watson to Taylor, no run, a swing and a miss, shortish outside off, has a massive heave at it, misses

4.5

Watson to Taylor, no run, appeal for a stumping, coming round the wicket, quick and wide outside off, goes for the cut as he steps out, misses, the keeper takes off the bails but has he dragged his foot back in? Yes, just in. Smith took it way to his right, and took some time to take off the bails

Still, three dot balls

4.6

Watson to Taylor, no run, droppped by Smith, short and wide, went for the cut, got a thick edge that the keeper failed to latch onto, excellent over

Just four off the over, and all those four runs came off the spilled chance by Drummond

Stander to bowl now. 22 needed off 12. Will we have a Super Over?

5.1

Stander to Styris, (no ball) 1 run, massive mistake, oversteps, concedes a freehit, low full toss, driven down to long-on

5.1

Stander to Taylor, SIX, what a costly lapse, length ball on the off, Taylor stays his ground, gets under it and dispatches it over long-on for a big six

Makes their job much easier now. 14 off 11

5.2

Stander to Taylor, SIX, That almost seals it, they haven’t learnt from New Zealand’s mistakes these Scot bowlers, full outside off, drags it and connects it powerfully to clear deep midwicket with ease

5.3

Stander to Taylor, 1 run, low full toss on the off, struck down the ground to long-off

5.4

Stander to Styris, SIX, game almost over, the fourth successive length delivery, gets to the pitch, has a decent swing and it sails over long-on, 21 off the over already

5.5

Stander to Styris, no run, huge cheer from the crowd as he bowls the dot ball, punched back to the bowler on the bounce

Just one needed now

5.6

Stander to Styris, 1 run, all over, fullish on middle and leg, flicked away wide of short fine

One can say it’s a comfortable win for New Zealand, especially as they’ve won with an over to spare in a seven-over game. Scotland bowled poorly, and dropped catches at crucial times. Too many length balls, and add to that two spilled chances amid some fiery New Zealand batting sealed their fate. They gave a good fight though, but one would have expected a stronger effort after posting a commanding total. At the end of their innings an upset could not have been ruled out. But in the end, New Zealand proved they were no England, keeping their nerve and making full use of the opportunities at hand.

Hamilton: “We had plenty of runs. We had a plan of around 75-80, but it just didn’t come off in the end. We were well aware of New Zealand’s potential but we didn’t execute our plans quite well. “

McCullum: “We were pretty nervous at around half time. They put us under pressure, we need to rectify our bowling a bit. We didn’t have a lot of time to get ourselves in, but Ryder struck the ball really well. We needed a 11-an-over towards the end, but in the context of the game that’s pretty under-par. Hopefully, we can put our best performance against South Africa.”

Ian Butler is the Man of the Match. Why not Watson?

Butler: “We were just trying to restrict their batsmen. The next game is a massive one for us.”

That’s all we have from this game, folks. Thanks for tuning in and sending us all your feedback. Hold fire, as Sriram Veera takes you through the next game on the cards, between West Indies and Australia, also at The Oval. Hopefully, there won’t be any problems with the rain for that one.

Also, At 1300GMT the British & Irish Lions play the third match of their tour against the Cheetahs, and at 1500GMT England take on Argentina at Old Trafford. For full commentary, reports and analysis, check out scrum.com.

Until the next time, it’s Siddhartha Talya signing off from the commentary and Binoy George from the scoring desk. Enjoy the rest of the day. Adios!