England have more questions than answers after their World Cup preparations begin with a miserable eight-wicket ODI loss to New Zealand

There were more questions than answers for England as they began their preparations for the World Cup with a resounding and dismal defeat by New Zealand.

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

But it ended with England being comprehensively and worryingly outplayed and their batsmen appearing to return to the old days of exuberant one-day cricket, posting an admittedly decent score of 291 for six on the difficult Sophia Gardens pitch.

Things didn’t look nearly as difficult for New Zealand as England’s bowlers lacked both ideas and assertiveness, particularly when Adil Rashid was missed due to alleged cramps during the middle overs in which he usually specializes.

There was little that could seriously test Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell, both unbeaten on centuries, as New Zealand cantered home with eight wickets and 26 balls remaining.

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

On a disappointing day for England, Devon Conway hit an unbeaten century

“At half-time I actually thought we had got a good result because we felt it was getting more and more difficult as the innings went on,” said England captain Jos Buttler.

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

Admittedly, England did not field their first choice and were missing likely World Cup starters Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Mark Wood and Sam Curran, all missing with what Buttler described as “a few little things”.

But that was a punishment for England. They lost the last two T20 internationals against New Zealand to level that series and suddenly there is a lot to think about ahead of Sunday’s second ODI at the Ageas Bowl and next week’s finals at the Oval and Lord’s.

The absence of Bairstow and Roy meant that Harry Brook and Dawid Malan, who were considered unlikely to feature when they missed training on Thursday, instead opened the first of four dress rehearsals for the opening World Cup match between these teams in Ahmedabad on October 5.

What looked like a one-on-one game made life difficult for England and Brook missed his chance to continue pushing for inclusion in the World Cup squad with a labored 25.

But the man who remains the main candidate would have a far better chance if, as expected, Brook is called up late to Malan.

Malan, who was granted permission on Thursday to spend time with his wife as they await the imminent birth of their first child, was one of the few English batsmen to play fluently as he en route to 54 off 53 balls Great cover struck.

It was Malan’s sixth score of 50-plus in his last 13 one-day internationals and since the start of last year his average in the format has been 66.3. There really isn’t much more he could do to ensure he’s on a plane to India next month.

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

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

The rest of England’s innings was something of a step backwards.

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

The English captain with the white ball was better. Buttler added 88 with Stokes and then reached 72 from 68 balls, while he provided the late opener with Liam Livingstone.

Livingstone is another player seemingly threatened by Brook for his World Cup place, but after a quiet year the Lancashire batsman showed much more of his explosive personality by making 52 from just 40 balls.

There were glimpses of classic English white-ball cricket when Livingstone hit Kyle Jamieson for three consecutive sixes, but when he and Buttler both failed at the same time, Tim Southee of England was left, as it turned out, well short of his target.

Rashid – “I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he’s OK,” said Buttler – bowled Young with beauty on his first delivery before leaving the field with a grimace, while David Willey, uncharacteristically not taking the new ball, Henry Nicholls fell behind with a loose throw.

But Conway and Mitchell had no trouble scoring 111 and 118 respectively, with Conway underlining New Zealand’s superiority by scoring Livingstone for the sixth time and comfortably deciding the match.

New Zealand’s superiority was on full display here and they will take a lot from this win