Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns was on Monday found "not guilty" of perjury and perverting the course of justice in a landmark verdict delivered at the Southwark Crown Court in London. In a marathon trial running over eight weeks, Cairns had been fighting accusations that he had lied under oath in 2012 when he was fighting a libel case against former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi, who had accused him of match-fixing.

A variety of top international cricketers including New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting had been called upon to provide evidence. Much of the evidence centred around allegations of Cairns running a fixing racket while participating in the rebel Indian Cricket League between 2007 and 2009.

However, after conferring for ten hours and 17 minutes, the jury acquitted Cairns and his friend Andrew Fitch-Holland of both the charges.