New Zealand have beaten England in the 4th One International to take a 2-1 lead in the series. And what a delicious win it was. One for the good guys. A victory for justice. Here is why:

With the game delicately in the balance, with New Zealand seven wickets down in the 44th over, there was a mid-pitch collision between Sidebottom and Elliot. The Pommies proceeded to mercilessly run Elliot out. While it’s the sort of the thing you might expect from the Aussies, it’s just not cricket. Good old Mark Benson gave skipper, Paul Collingwood, three seconds to talk some deep breaths and reconsider. But the skipper stood firm – he was determined to be a bad sport.

But it all worked out in the end for the Kiwis. Just. And that’s what makes it so poetic. There was one ball to go. The Kiwis needs two to win with one wicket in hand. Gillespie, who had ground out a pain staking 2 from 12 balls was on strike. He finally got bat on ball and the Kiwis scurried through to tie the match. The good news is that an optimistic shy at the stumps eluded all of the English – Gillespie returned for the overthrow, doubled his score, almost doubled his strike rate and New Zealand won.

Three cheers.