13, 1983, Melbourne

New Zealand: 239 for 8 in 50 overs, England: 237 for 8 in 50 overs

David Gower 122 (134)

In the 1982-83 B&H Cup, New Zealand met England at the MCG. New Zealand scored a middling total of 239, but they had a potent bowling line-up to trouble England. David Gower opened the innings. The only real substantial support he got was from Ian Botham, who scored 41 and added 98 for the fourth wicket. England were sitting pretty at 190 for 3 when Botham was dismissed and New Zealand tightened the screws. Derek Randall and Geoff Miller were dismissed soon and Gower, trying to match the required rate, attacked Richard Hadlee and found the fielder. Vic Marks and Bob Taylor could not finish the task and EnglandThe recent era of majoritarian rule in the UK is drawing to a definitive close. On 7 May, for the first time since 1910, voters will almost certainly return a second successive hung parliament. In the absence of a 1992-style polling debacle (when the Conservatives finished 7 points ahead of Labour on election day, having been tied in the final surveys) or an extremely late swing, both of the main parties will fall far short of the 326 seats required for a majority.

The memory of two triple election-winners, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, has made single-party hegemony appear the norm. But in previous decades, the reverse was the case. Of the 20 governments formed in the 20th century, half were coalitions or minority administrations (with five of each).