New Zealand are left relying once again on an ability to respond to stinging defeat when the one-day international series begins against England on Sunday.
The Black Caps don’t have long to stew on their 10-wicket hammering in the Twenty20 series decider at Wellington on Friday, where the tourists mirrored the dominance of the 55-run opening win at Auckland with a 10-wicket thrashing.
Captain Brendon McCullum admits New Zealand were “blown off the park” in losing the series 2-1.
“Batting, bowling and fielding was nowhere near the standards they need to be – and England were ruthless, and thoroughly deserved the series victory,” he said.
“We were just poor across the board, and they were excellent across the board; hence the gulf between the two teams.”
McCullum hopes their attitude in fighting back to win the second T20 at Hamilton can be rekindled when they return to Seddon Park for the first of three 50-over matches.
“I thought we bounced back straight away in the second game (of the T20 series) and I expect us to bounce back strongly in the first game of the one-dayers.
“So that’s a characteristic of this team that we are showing at the moment, our ability to bounce back. England will obviously be reasonably confident after this performance, albeit with a new squad.”
In Wellington, New Zealand’s 8-139 never looked close to enough once England openers Alex Hales (80 off 42 balls) and Michael Lumb (53 off 34) started finding their range, smashing nine sixes between them.
They sauntered to 0-143 with 44 balls to spare, leaving captain Stuart Broad struggling to recall a better Twenty20 display.
“All round, it was probably the most powerful performance I’ve seen from an England side really,” said Broad, who took 3-15 from his four overs.
“There was no panic button pressed (after the second match). We had a bad day but that can happen in sport.
“The fielding was strong as well, catches being held. It was a pretty perfect performance really.”
Despite their heroics, Hales and Lumb are among the T20 players to exit the tour, along with allrounder Luke Wright and pace bowler Jade Dernbach.
Five hardened internationals will bolster the ODI side – captain Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, James Anderson and Graeme Swann.
New Zealand introduce batsmen Kane Williamson and BJ Watling and seamer Kyle Mills for the ODI series in place of opening batsman Hamish Rutherford, spinner Roneel Hira, and paceman Ian Butler.
