England in New Zealand: Batting costs tourists again as hosts edge to victory and claim ODI series sweeo

England failed to overcome another disastrous batting failure in the third one-day international in Wellington as New Zealand cruised to a two-wicket victory to send the tourists to Australia following a 3-0 series defeat.

England’s top order collapsed once again and were bowled out for a third consecutive match before New Zealand threatened to spoil the chase for 223 to continue a worrying trend heading into the Ashes later this month.

They were on course for 187-5, needing just 35 off 87 balls, but lost captain Mitchell Santner for 27 and Daryl Mitchell for 44 in a collapse of 3-8.

They remained 27 with two wickets remaining, but any hopes of an unexpected, morale-boosting victory for England were extinguished by an unbroken ninth-wicket partnership between Zak Foulkes and Blair Tickner.

England’s bowling effort was admirable; This defeat is down to a recent top-line collapse that left them outscored 44-5.

Joe Root was dismissed for two, captain Harry Brook for six and Ben Duckett for eight, and they only managed 200 thanks to Jamie Overton’s 68 (his first ODI fifty).

Seven of this XI now head to Perth to step up their preparations for the highly anticipated series against Australia, which starts on 21 November.

They are playing just one warm-up tour – a three-day match against the England Lions – leaving the struggling batsmen little chance of finding form before the series opener.

Meanwhile, Brook’s 50-plus team have lost 11 of their 15 matches this year and their chances need to improve when they return to action in the new year or their direct qualification for the 2027 World Cup will be seriously threatened.