England have lost their opening match in the ICC T20 World Cup to New Zealand by nine runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.
The Three Lions lost the toss and were put into bat, and they got off to the worst possible start when Alex Hales was dismissed for a duck by Kyle Mils.
However, England rallied with Moeen Ali and Michael Lumb at the crease, as they took the attack to the Black Caps and brought up the 50 in the sixth over.
Ali was playing with excellent touch but departed playing one big shot too many when he was caught on the boundary for 35 by Mitchell McClenaghan off the bowling of Corey Anderson.
Lumb soon followed with the score at 76-3 leaving England with rebuilding work to do, but Eoin Morgan was caught for just 12 off the bowling of Tim Southee.
Jos Buttler and Ravi Bopara helped the Three Lions move the score into the 120s and ready for a late surge, but Anderson managed to york the Lancashire man for 32 before he could cut loose.
However, some quality late hitting from Bopara and Tim Bresnan guided England to a competitive score of 172-6 from their 20 overs.
In reply, New Zealand got off to a quick start, with Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson finding the boundary with ease off Bresnan and Stuart Broad's bowling.
Jade Dernbach hit back as he had Guptill caught by Chris Jordan for 11, but Brendon McCullum continued the assault, moving his side to 50-run mark as the rain came.
The weather failed to subside and with New Zealand reaching the five-over mark required for a result, they secured the victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method to get their tournament off to a winning start.
Simon Sinclair
