Brendon McCullum: England blew us away
Thursday 11 June 2015 15:12, UK
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was generous in defeat after his team were hammered by 210 runs by England at Edgbaston.
England’s new-look one-day international team, full of attacking players, got off to a spectacular start with a stunning display of power batting – the kind of display in fact that the Kiwis have become known for in the last 12 months.
Jos Buttler, with 129 off 77 deliveries, smacked a brilliant 66-ball century. It was the second fastest in England ODI history – bettered only by his own 61-ball blitz against Sri Lanka last year.
Joe Root scored 104 off 78 balls as his fine form in an England shirt continues. But it was a seventh-wicket stand of 177 between Buttler and Adil Rashid (69 off 50) that set up England’s highest score in an ODI – 408-9, that after they had come together with the team in some trouble on 202-6.
"They blew us off the park," McCullum said. "It was the complete performance by England. Special performances from Joe Root and Jos Buttler, I thought they were outstanding and to post 400 in any game is outstanding, credit to England, they blew us off the park.
"I think sometimes you've got to admit when you get it wrong at the toss. And the way the ball probably started holding up a little bit in the second innings probably suggested we did get it wrong.
"That was unfortunate but I still don't think it should take away from how outstanding they were with the bat and the ball and in the field. It was a complete performance from England and we've got some work to do."
“We had to keep taking wickets to give ourselves a chance and hopefully bowl them out. To get to 202-6 after 30-odd overs…
“I thought if we get one or two more wickets we may chase 250, even 300. But when two guys come out and play like they did…
“We had pretty attacking fields and I thought they chanced their arm nicely. They took the initiative and I thought they played with no fear. It’s tough sometimes when they get themselves in and they play like that.
“The partnership was outstanding. We could have tried a few more things but overall it was outstanding batting.
“We need to make sure we are bit more accurate with the ball.
“We knew England would play like that. I guess we didn’t expect they would get 400. When you look at the way – right through the order – that they kept coming at us….they were too good for us.”
McCullum expects spectators to be in for more treats during the rest of the five-match series.
Live One-Day International Cricket
He added: "Cricket's a funny game - the last time we played England we were on the right side of the ledger in terms of a one-sided match, on this occasion they were simply too good for us today.
"That's the way I think both teams will play this series. There will be some cliffhangers at some point, no doubt. I think the crowds are going to be in for some outstanding cricket over the next week and a half."
Watch the second ODI between England and New Zealand on Friday, with coverage from 12.30pm.
