England captain Jos Buttler has admitted that his side was "a long way short of our best" after the reigning ODI World Cup champions suffered a crushing nine-wicket defeat to New Zealand on the opening night of the tournament in Ahmedabad.
Asked to bat first, England stuttered along to a total of 282 for 9, losing wickets at regular intervals, and Buttler said afterwards he thought they were 50 below par with the bat. Although Sam Curran took a wicket with the first ball of the second over, that was as good as it got for England with the ball, as a record-breaking 273-run stand between Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra saw New Zealand ease to victory with 13.4 overs to spare.
It was a defeat that not only gave England plenty to think about ahead of their second group game, against Bangladesh in Dharamsala on Tuesday, but left them with a net run rate hit of -2.149 that could yet play a significant role in their chances of progressing.
"A disappointing day, very much outplayed by New Zealand and a tough defeat to take," Buttler said at the post-match presentation. "It is one loss, whether we lost by a run or the margin we did today, it's one loss at the start of a long tournament.
"There's a lot of guys in our team, who've played a lot of cricket. We've beaten teams this way before and been on the end of these results before as well. We won't read too much into it, won't get to down on ourselves as much as we wouldn't get too high if we were on the other side."
Although Buttler suggested the pitch had got better for batting under the floodlights, he said that England had not been clinical enough with their shot execution. All 11 of England's players got into double-figures, but only Joe Root went on to pass 50, while the biggest partnership of the innings was the 70 put on by Root and Buttler for the fifth wicket.
"I thought we were well below par," he said. "Judging by the way New Zealand batted, they showed that. I thought we were aiming for 330, it felt like it was a really good wicket to bat on and it probably got even better under lights as well. Just with the score we had and the start they got off to, it's tough to build any pressure.
"We lacked being a bit clinical with our execution. Some of the dismissals were the right shots but just not quite executed correctly. We'll keep being positive, we'll keep playing our way. It shows you have to get good scores on the board if you're going to defend them on really good wickets. You can't be too defensive. I think we were just not quite clinical enough with our shot-making and our execution.
"They played some really good cricket shots and got great value for them. I thought the margin for error on that pitch was very small and in that powerplay, someone like Devon Conway - I can't think of any massive shots he played but he scored very quickly, and the same for Rachin Ravindra as well. The two guys played exceptionally well, they put together a fantastic partnerships and we were well beaten today.
"I think conditions changed, the pitch skidded on even better under lights in the second half, that's why we would have bowled first as well. But I still think it was a good wicket, I think we played a long way short of our best with the bat and still made 280. If we were closer to our best, I think we would have got up to a score which we may have defended - but with the conditions or the skill that New Zealand showed, it may still not have been enough."
England had gone into the game without Ben Stokes, who was suffering from a hip niggle in the build-up, and Buttler said they would "wait and see" on his availability to face Bangladesh next Tuesday. "Fingers crossed he can get fit as soon as possible."
Joe Root: It's really important we don't panic
Speaking to Sky Sports, Root said that England would not be panicking after losing their rematch of the 2019 final so comprehensively, adding that they would use the batting innings as a mean of "reaffirming" their belief in attacking cricket.
"It was a frustrating day but it's really important to remember, there's so much cricket in this tournament and it's really important we don't panic," he said. "If anything we just reaffirm what we're about as a team and make sure we almost go more that way in the next game.
"It's always a cagey affair the first game of a tournament like this. We got ourselves into the game, got ourselves a score on the board. We knew that it was lower than what we probably wanted to be, and it could get dewy towards the back end tonight and it could skid on nicer, which it did. Credit to them, they played well. We underperformed with the ball, that's why the gulf was so big in the end. We're a better side with the bat, we know we are, and we've got plenty more opportunities in this tournament to prove that."
Asked whether it was the time for "difficult conversations" in the dressing room, Root said: "I don't think it's ever a difficult conversation, if you've gotgood group who all trust each other and know what we're about, we're going towards something and have been for a while, then it becomes quite an easy conversation. It's honest, not something we need to spend a huge amount of time talking about, because it's pretty obvious where we've gone wrong.
"It's about how can we make sure we don't find ourselves in this situation again. What can we do to enable us to go that bit harder and right a few of the little mistakes that we made through this game. It's important that we keep going, keep getting better, and if anything you want to keep constantly improving as a team as the tournament goes on, so that towards the back end when it really counts you're in a really good space as a group and peaking at the right time.
"That being said, you can't afford to lose too many games, but when have you ever seen a World Cup-winning campaign when there isn't a little wobble or stumbling block. So, just stay calm, remember what we're about as a group, and reinforce that for the next game.
Root had come into the tournament on a run of poor form, with just 39 runs from four innings against New Zealand last month, but was pleased to spend some time in the middle while making his first ODI half-century since July 2022.
"It was warm, bit different to Sheffield. I enjoy playing in these conditions. It wasn't as straightforward as you might want it to be, it wasn't really true and coming on, there was a little bit of turn that made it hard to put your foot down in certain moments and really force those partnerships and make them substantial ones. Last four games I've not hit my straps like I'd like to, you want to perform in a tournament like this. You want to be part of big scores that set games up, and contributing. It's a bit hollow when you don't win but it's a step in the right direction from a personal point of view."