All the anticipation, all the build-up, all the replays of the 2019 final, the World Cup started, and England were dealt a crushing nine-wicket defeat at the hands of New Zealand. This was a game that was definitely not decided by the ‘barest of margins’.
Jos Buttler was left to admit that his England side had been ‘completely outplayed’, but the sheer dominance of New Zealand against the defending champions was ruthless and significant.
The talk ahead of the World Cup had been dominated by Harry Brook or Jason Roy and whether Ben Stokes would be fit enough to play, but as the opener got underway, none of that would prove significant.
England’s batting which blazed them to the trophy in 2019 was sub-par. Every single player reached double figures, but only Joe Root – who hit 77 – made a score of note.
Even Buttler admitted his side had been hoping for around 330 from the first innings having had a look at the pitch, and the lightning-quick outfield.
“Disappointed, I thought (we were) completely outplayed,” Buttler said after the game.
“But the first thing that springs to mind whether you lose by a run or a defeat like that is it is one loss at the start of a very long tournament so I think that will be encouraging to everyone to remember.
“It’s certainly a tough loss to take, we were outplayed, but we’ve got a lot of experience in the room and guys who have gone through lots of things and faced defeats like that before so just as if we had won the game we don’t get too high, and we don’t get too low when we lose the game as well.”
The defeat does not have to be the end of the world for England, after all on their route to victory at Lord’s four years ago they were beaten three times, by Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia. But it is the nature of the loss that will spark concern.
England were utterly hammered on all fronts. Although the batting total was below par, it was still decidedly a total and one that could be defended. But when it came time to field, Buttler’s men had no answers.
England had no answers to the New Zealand onslaught in crushing nine-wicket defeat— (Getty Images)
Sam Curran bowled a wicket maiden in the second over, and there was hope that more wickets could fall. Few, even on the Kiwi side, would have predicted it would be the only wicket in the game and that Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway would each score centuries in a 273-run partnership that would see the Kiwis over the line.
More concerning for England may yet be that the bowlers could not find their length or line at times, and that the batters, including 23-year-old Ravindra, were picking off boundaries with ease and did not put a foot wrong all innings.
It was a blow to the net run rate, which could make a difference towards the end of the round-robin stage, but more significantly it has shown England to be beatable.
Buttler was left to state that England were more than just one player when asked about when the injured Ben Stokes could return to the side, but individual performances will be needed as the tournament goes on.
Going forward England will need their leaders, and more than that they will need to show that the performance was a blip or a ‘bump’ as Joe Root put it on Sky Sports after the game, rather than a more significant stumbling block.
