England slide to defeat as batting woes continue

England have now lost nine overseas ODIs in a row

Second one-day international, Hamilton

England 175 (36 overs): Overton 42 (28); Tickner 4-34

New Zealand 177-5 (33.1 overs): Mitchell 56* (59) Ravindra 54 (58); Archer 3-23

New Zealand won by five wickets; lead series 2-0

Scorecard

England's top order collapsed again as their pre-Ashes preparations suffered a setback with a five-wicket defeat by New Zealand in the second one-day international in Hamilton.

The tourists were bowled out for 175 with 14 overs of their innings left unused before New Zealand knocked off the runs with relative ease to clinch the series 2-0 with one match left to play.

Jamie Overton top scored for England as he bludgeoned 42 off 28 balls during a counter-attacking knock.

That innings came after Test players Jamie Smith, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell and Brook had all got starts without being able to manifest them into anything of greater substance.

Blair Tickner claimed 4-34 while fellow seamer Nathan Smith took 2-27 as the rest of England's order stumbled to a underwhelming total against a disciplined New Zealand attack.

Jofra Archer gave England some early hope with the ball when he pinned opener Will Young lbw with the fourth delivery of the Black Caps' innings.

Kane Williamson showed his nous as he soaked up the pressure with a gritty 21 before he was dismissed by Overton.

England still had hope when Archer ended Rachin Ravindra's fluent innings of 54 and then strangled Michael Bracewell down the leg side.

But Daryl Mitchell's unbeaten 56 and skipper Mitchell Santner's breezy 34 not out got New Zealand home with a mammoth 101 balls to spare.

The tourists will hope for an improvement in the third ODI on Saturday (01:00 GMT) while this match will be best remembered for:

• England's top-order struggles continuing as key batters miss out on time at the crease with the Ashes on the horizon

• Encouraging signs from Archer in his first ODI against New Zealand since the 2019 World Cup final as he finished with three wickets

• Ravindra's confident strokeplay backed up by excellent game awareness from Mitchell and Santner

England batting worries continue

England were presented with an awkward green top at the Bay Oval in the first ODI and their rusty top order - Brook's majestic hundred aside - found it tough going.

The surface at Seddon Park had a more appreciable straw-coloured hue, but the outcome for their Test contingent hoping to find form before they head across the Tasman Sea was similar.

Admittedly, this capitulation was not quite as dramatic as the one at Mount Maunganui, with movement through the air and off the pitch not as pronounced.

In the first powerplay here there was much less swing - 0.69 degrees versus 1.31 - and seam - 0.57 degrees versus 0.89 - compared to Sunday.

England wickets nevertheless fell regularly through a combination of good bowling, bad luck and poor judgment.

Ben Duckett nicked behind off a seaming delivery from Jacob Duffy for just a single as his lean trot from the end of the English summer continued.

Fellow opener Smith perished on 13 when he skied one attempting to hit Zak Foulkes across the line.

Root had reached 25 when he was frustrated to miss out on two deliveries from Tickner down leg side - neither of which were called wide - and ended up tickling the third to Tom Latham.

At a parlous 51-3 England were vulnerable, but Bethell and Brook initially appeared assured only for things to unravel via a duff pull shot and slash to backward point on 18 and 34 respectively.

Overton at least added a degree of competitiveness to the total although there were scant contributions from the remainder of the lower order as New Zealand ruthlessly closed the innings out.

Are England's batting struggles in these first two ODIs an early portent for another southern hemisphere winter of discontent?

Hopefully not for England fans. But opportunities for England's Test batters to spend time in the middle before the first Ashes Test in Perth on 21 November are quickly running out.

Archer puts down a marker

Jofra Archer had never played an ODI in New Zealand before

England's 175 was some way short of the 244 average first-innings total in ODIs at Hamilton.

Indeed it was over a hundred runs adrift of the average winning score - 287 - when batting first at the ground.

Given so few runs to play with, England's bowlers needed to marry incisiveness with control.

Archer brought them both during 10 overs of top-class fast bowling across two spells as he put down a marker in his first outing of the winter.

The 30-year-old set the tone early with a full delivery in his first over that had Young trapped plumb in front.

New Zealand's batters were then hopping about the crease, as Archer showed his teeth with some rasping short balls.

Archer's pace was up there as well. He averaged 87.4mph across his two spells with his fastest delivery of the day clocked at 90.2mph.

The Barbados-born quick bowler's two other wickets owed a little more to fortune - Ravindra hooking him to Adil Rashid in the deep and Bracewell feathering one off his pads into the gloves of wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

Yet they had been earned by spells of pressure. Archer's 51 dot balls were the most he has bowled in an ODI when he has sent down 10 overs.

"He is an awesome bowler," Brook said afterwards,

"Everyone loves watching him - 90mph and hoops it both ways. For him to bowl 3-23 is amazing. It is awesome to have him back."

Archer's injury problems and careful management over the past few years have been well documented.

But the fact he seems willing to throw himself about in the field - diving to stop balls on the boundary at fine leg - shows there are no scars.

There will be no holding back this winter.

England coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes will have excitedly taken note. So too, with a little more trepidation, will Australia.

'Got to come back stronger' - reaction

England captain Harry Brook: "Disappointing to say the least. We have got to come back stronger and better and hopefully get at least one win against these boys who are second in the rankings.

"We want to go out and entertain the world. It was only two or three games ago we got 400 against South Africa. It is not far away.

"They are nice wickets to bat on. It is just trying to get through the first 15 or 20 balls of your innings. Hopefully we can have a good game on Saturday."

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner: "It was a great game from us. The boys were exceptional.

"We knew it was going to be a challenging chase, especially with the likes of Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer. Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra did a hell of a job to get us through the powerplay."

Player of the match, New Zealand fast bowler Blair Tickner: "It felt really good, I didn't expect it, I just thought I was going to run some drinks. Last night I was having a BBQ and I saw a message. It's awesome to play.

"Taking early wickets is the way it goes. The boys up front did well and I just finished the job off."