England outplayed in miserable eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand

England are left with more questions than answers after their World Cup build-up begins with miserable eight-wicket ODI defeat to New Zealand

• England lost their one day international against New Zealand by eight wickets 
• Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell both made unbeaten centuries in the victory 
• World champions were outplayed despite claim of having more depth than 2019

There were more questions than answers for England as they began their build-up for the World Cup in earnest with an emphatic and miserable defeat by New Zealand.

The first one-day international of the summer started with Eoin Morgan saying this England team have more depth and quality than his World Cup winners of 2019.

But it ended with England being comprehensively and worryingly outplayed, their batsmen apparently returning to the old days of turgid one-day cricket in posting what admittedly looked like a decent score of 291 for six on a tricky Sophia Gardens pitch.

It looked nothing like as difficult for New Zealand, with England’s bowlers lacking both ideas and penetration, particularly when Adil Rashid went missing with what was described as cramp during the middle overs he usually specialises in.

There was little to seriously test Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell, who both made unbeaten centuries as New Zealand cantered home by eight wickets with 26 balls to spare.

Daryl Mitchell was able to scored an unbeaten century in New Zealand’s eight-wicket win 

There was also an unbeaten century for Devon Conway on a disappointing day for England 

‘At the halfway stage I actually thought we’d got up to a good score because we felt it got harder as our innings went on,’ said England captain Jos Buttler. 

‘I’m not sure whether conditions eased but New Zealand played very well. The defeat looked bigger in the end because we were chasing wickets but we couldn’t find a way to build enough pressure.’

Admittedly, England did not field their first-choice line-up, missing probable World Cup starters in Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Mark Wood and Sam Curran, all missing with what Buttler described as ‘a few niggles.’

But this was chastening for England. They lost the last two T20 internationals against New Zealand to square that series and suddenly have plenty to ponder ahead of Sunday’s second ODI at the Ageas Bowl and next week’s final matches at the Oval and Lord’s.

The absence of Bairstow and Roy meant Harry Brook and Dawid Malan, both deemed unlikely to play when they missed training on Thursday, instead walked out to open in this first of four dress rehearsals for the opening World Cup game between these sides in Ahmedabad on October 5.

What appeared a two-paced pitch made life difficult for England and Brook failed to take his chance to further press for inclusion in the World Cup squad with a painstaking 25.

But there were much better fortunes for the man who remains the prime candidate to miss out if Brook, as expected, receives a belated call-up in Malan.

Malan, who had been given permission to spend time on Thursday with his wife as they await the imminent arrival of their first child, was one of the few England batsmen to find fluency as he cover drove classily on his way to 54 off 53 balls.

It was Malan’s sixth score of 50 plus in his last 13 one-day internationals and he is averaging 66.3 in this format since the start of last year. Really, he could not do too much more to ensure he is on the plane to India next month.

It was a worrying loss for England who begin their World Cup preparations with a defeat 

A rare highlight as David Willey celebrates taking the wicket of New Zealand’s Henry Nicholls

The rest of England’s innings was something of a throwback. 

Ben Stokes did get somewhere close to old his stride in his first 50-over match since coming out of one-day retirement for the World Cup in reaching his own half-century. But he had taken 69 balls for his 52 when he became one of three wickets for Rachin Ravindra.

There was better from the England white-ball captain. Buttler added 88 with Stokes and then moved on to 72 off 68 balls while providing late impetus with Liam Livingstone.

Livingstone is another of the players seemingly under threat for his World Cup place from Brook but after a quiet year the Lancashire batsman was much more like his explosive self in making 52 off just 40 balls.

There were glimpses of vintage England white-ball cricket when Livingstone hit Kyle Jamieson for three successive sixes but when he and Buttler both fell in the same Tim Southee over England were destined to, as it turned out, fall way short of where they needed to be.

Rashid – ‘fingers crossed he’s ok,’ said Buttler – bowled Young with a beauty with his first delivery before he left the field with a grimace while David Willey, unusually not taking the new ball, had Henry Nicholls caught behind with a loose delivery.

But Conway and Mitchell were pretty much untroubled in making 111 and 118 respectively, Conway emphasising New Zealand’s superiority by hitting Livingstone for six to clinch the match with ease.

New Zealand’s superiority was on full display here and they will take plenty from this victory

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