Australia and New Zealand shared a point each after their ICC Champions Trophy 2013 game was abandoned due to rain at Edgbaston.
The Aussies, who were without Michael Clarke and David Warner - the latter left out because of an alleged altercation with England player Joe Root -- would have been disappointed to see their chances of picking up a win ruined after they posted 243 for eight from their 50 overs, thanks to half centuries from Adam Voges and George Bailey.
New Zealand will be happier of the two with the point, even if they were in with a decent shout of winning the game. The Kiwis were on 51 for two in 15 overs, with Clint McKay picking up both wickets, when the match was called off due to persistent rain - a minimum of 20 overs in both innings are necessary for the game to have a result.
Australia's stand-in captain Bailey said he was pretty pleased with the performance of his team, despite only garnering one point from two games and leaving them extremely vulnerable to missing the semifinals.
"I was pretty happy with today (Wednesday)," he said. "I think I thought we had just over what would be a par score on a pretty challenging wicket. We had taken a couple of early wickets.
"I thought we had some good momentum when the rain came. I don't think the state of Australian cricket has changed from the start of the tournament.
"I said from the start the biggest challenge not only in this tournament but in our one-day cricket is closing our gap between our best and our worst games, and that's something that will make us a better team rather than our best getting any better.
"I thought today was a more decent effort. It just would have been nice to find out where that left us."
New Zealand now have their destiny in their own hands and a win against England, the team they beat 2-1 prior to the Champions Trophy, will ensure a place for them in the semis.
"We've played good one-day cricket in the last sort of while. Sometimes we've been a little bit off the ball as well," New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum said. "But I think as a whole, we're playing some decent cricket.
"If we can just tidy up a couple of those loose areas, you alluded to fielding at times and obviously the bat the other day as well on a very tough wicket.
"Even today just a little off the ball in parts. We were brilliant at other team times with the ball, and the team was brilliant with the ball. But other times we were just a little bit off.
"But if we're serious about thinking we can win this tournament, we need to make sure we tidy up those areas that haven't been quite right, but I still think we're capable of doing that.
"When we do play a decent game as we have done against the first two games against England in the series, we're a very tough team to beat. So we have to make sure we get those things sorted out and we'll give ourselves an opportunity."
