New Zealand have scrapped and fought to stay in contention throughout this one-day series and it has been good enough to bring them two victories and possibly should have led to another. But the seven-wicket defeat in Christchurch on Saturday (March 10) put the limitations of this team into plain view.

Those centre around New Zealand's dependable batsmen on a few senior batsmen. Ross Taylor, who scored two hundreds in the series, was absent in the final game because of injury which put huge pressure on captain Kane Williamson. When he went cheaply, New Zealand imploded. The home side have done well in this series when Taylor or Williamson have scored hundreds. When they haven't, New Zealand have been thumped.

Once again, Williamson admitted cheap wickets cost his side. "It's a game of cricket and you want to improve on previous performances," he said. "That would be the disappointing thing today is that there were too many soft dismissals through that middle order and we failed to adapt on a surface that was perhaps a little bit soft to start and the ball stood up a little bit. It was a disappointing effort with the bat."

Today, New Zealand found themselves 93 for 6 after batting first, adding yet another collapse to a growing list. Several players in the top seven have been out of form which hasn't helped, although Henry Nicholls' 55 at Hagley Oval was at least a welcome return to the runs, but some of New Zealand's play with the bat has been shocking. The dismissals of Martin Guptill, Tom Latham and Colin de Grandhomme today, chipping simple catches to England's fielders, were a case in point.