Twenty20 finale reduced
The third and final match of England's NatWest Twenty20 series with South Africa has been reduced to 11 overs a side due to poor weather at Edgbaston.
In a summer programme frequently affected by rain, it seemed vaguely fitting that the final fixture of the international season did not run smoothly, with the advertised 6.30pm start pushed back after an early evening deluge in Birmingham.
The rain ended shortly before that but umpires Rob Bailey and Richard Illingworth were unhappy with damp areas on the square and kept the teams off until eventually settling on an 8.12pm start.
The curtailed playing conditions left a powerplay of just three overs in each innings, with one bowler permitted to bowl three overs and and the rest restricted to two apiece.
England need victory to square the series against the Proteas after slipping to a seven-wicket defeat at Durham and a washout in Lancashire.
England showed three changes from the second game of the series, with opener Michael Lumb, Tim Bresnan and debutant spinner Danny Briggs in for Alex Hales, Steven Finn and Samit Patel.
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers, whose side saw Dale Steyn and JP Duminy left out and replaced with Francois du Plessis and Wayne Parnell, won the toss and inserted England.
