England went down to New Zealand in the first ODI at the Bay Oval as the hosts outplayed the visitors in all facets of the game. England did run them close with the ball and thanks to Harry Brook’s brilliance got the score above 200, but the score was never going to be enough as New Zealand showed in the chase as they comfortably chased it down in the end. There were errors made by England due to which they lost and we will try and list out three reasons for their loss in this match.
Top and middle order collapse leaves England reeling at 56/6 in the 12th over
England were put into bat by New Zealand and they got off to the worst possible start losing Jamie Smith on the first ball of the match and the floodgates opened after that. Ben Duckett and Joe Root followed suit to leave the side at 5/3. England kept on losing wickets after that as Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, and Sam Curran made single digit scores as England lost 5 wickets inside the powerplay and were 56/6 in 11.3 overs at one stage and the game was as good as over.
England’s captain Harry Brook played an innings for the ages and so much so that he was awarded the Player of the Match despite losing the game. He made 135 off 101 balls and had company from Jamie Overton who made 46 as this duo showed the resistance out there in the middle by building a 87-run stand for the 7th wicket. Wickets fell after that, but Brook played a one man show innings especially for the last wicket to take the score to 223 from 166/9. But it was to no avail in the end.
Looking ahead to the next game in Hamilton on Wednesday, England will ideally opt to chase on winning the toss but have to improve their batting performance by leaps and bounds. They cannot afford to lose so many wickets in clusters and would have faced embarrassment had it not been for Brooks’ brilliance. Losing 5 wickets in the powerplay and 6 inside 12 overs doesn’t paint a rosy story. England have to apply themselves and improve their batting and first respect the conditions on offer to do well in this series as the second one will be a must-win game for England.
Inability to dismiss Daryl Mitchell comes back to haunt England
England while defending 223 got early wickets as they dismissed Will Young, Kane Williamson, and Rachin Ravindra early to have New Zealand in a spot of bother at 24/3 in the 5th over. But they could not dismiss Daryl Mitchell who is one of the mainstays of the New Zealand batting in ODIs. Mitchell guided the innings and rebuilt it at a fair clip. He first put on 42 with keeper batter Tom Latham at run a ball with Latham scoring 24 off 24 balls.
The clincher was his partnership with Michael Bracewell who also scored a fifty as he made 51 off 51 balls and shared a match- defining 92-run stand for the 5th wicket to practically seal the deal. In a 224 chase, one good partnership sets you going and that is what exactly happened in this match. Even after Bracewell was dismissed, captain Mitchell Santner came in and put on 49 in quick time with Mitchell who was the constant player as he remained unbeaten on 78 off 91 balls.
England had plans in place but couldn’t quite execute it and tried too hard as the total was below par. They pushed New Zealand on the back foot but could not go on with it due to lack of good bowling and great sensible batting as well. Looking ahead to the next ODI, England have to come up with better concrete plans to deal with New Zealand’s middle and lower middle order. The top order struggled, but the middle order stood up for the Kiwis.
Inability to bat out 50 overs costs England dear
It was a batting failure of the highest order from England and this is not the first time we have seen it from them in ODIs. The problem is when they collapse, they collapse in a heap and it meant that once again England failed to bat out their 50 overs. They were bowled out in 35.2 overs and the writing was basically on the wall when 6 wickets had fallen inside 12 overs, that they won’t bat 50 overs and fell short in the end.
Captain Harry Brook played a masterful ton and saved some of the blushes for England as his 135 helped England get to 223 but they were bowled out in 35.2 overs. Apart from Brook, only Jamie Overton put a price on his wicket and scored a good looking 46 but he too fell and the innings crumbled again like a pack of cards. The lower order tail tried to hang in there, but it was as much as they could do. The top order players were found wanting and gifted the wickets away.
It’s high time the top order takes responsibility and show consistency in order to succeed at this level and be good in ODIs. England are languishing in 8th place in the rankings and there must be good reason behind it and this is the reason which is lack of consistency. Apart from Joe Root, all the other players are aggressors and do not have the game to tone down. Root can fail at times, but others need to step up and be counted and England will definitely be motivated in order to come back in the series.
What Lies Ahead
So, New Zealand are up 1-0 in the series and will look to seal the series on Wednesday 29th October, 2025 when both teams meet at Seddon Park in Hamilton. England will be desperate to bounce back and square the series and set up a decider which is the 3rd ODI on Saturday. We will have to wait and watch to see whether England can bounce back to square the series or will New Zealand seal the deal in Hamilton.
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