As England gave their wickets away to a series of horror shots at Bristol, losing four wickets for two runs in 19 balls to collapse to 64 for six in the nineteenth over chasing a meagre 183 to win, the sound of tumbleweed could have been heard blowing through the England dressing-room and the minds of the players.

“We're all international cricketers, so we shouldn't need telling how to build a run chase,” Stuart Broad, the England all-rounder, said. “You've got to play your natural game. It was a pretty good wicket. We just didn't cope with the pressure well enough.”

Broad, who will be 22 tomorrow, handled the pressure better than anyone with ball and then bat on Saturday. But he must have his doubts about some of those ahead of him in the order as England head to the Brit Oval on Wednesday fighting for their lives in this NatWest Series at 1-1 (New Zealand feel it should be 2-1 after being robbed by rain at Edgbaston) with two games to play. New Zealand will be stronger, too, with Jacob Oram back, as a batsman at least. Those multi-million-pound matches on offer from Allen Stanford must seem far away for some.

Broad said that the message at the break between innings was to “just play your natural game ... if you see a ball in your area, play fearless cricket ... if it's there to hit, hit it”. On Friday, Peter Moores, the England head coach, had talked about being flexible. Are the messages contradictory if they are not properly understood? Do the England batsmen know when they need to be fearless or know whether they should throttle back when they need less than four an over?

Ian Bell admitted after the World Cup last year, in light of the disastrous start he had with Michael Vaughan against South Africa, that he wasn't sure whose responsibility it had been to get on with it. Poor execution of a plan is one thing, having no plan is another.

The defeat on Saturday gave Paul Collingwood, the captain, and Moores a losing record in one-day internationals since they took up their positions last year - ten wins against 11 defeats, with one tie and one no result. England's top order is better equipped for the 20 overs of powerplays than a year ago, but Luke Wright looked worryingly like the converted middle-order batsman he is. After seeing the second ball from Kyle Mills move away off the pitch and in the air, he tried to guide the next one to third man, but found only second slip.

As he walked off, he practised the same shot. Did he not realise it was the wrong shot? (Tim Ambrose was later guilty of much the same thing.) Soon after Kevin Pietersen played a lazy clip to mid-wicket. With those two gone, did Bell feel he had to be the dominant partner? Was that why he was out trying to hit a wide?

Perhaps England think they are a better batting side than they are. Ravi Bopara came out flashing, but was it fearlessly or fearfully? He eventually hit it to point. After reducing New Zealand to 49 for five in the 21st over, they were also complacent in the field and, after Broad had bowled his allocation, they lacked control. “At the halfway point we were delighted with our efforts,” Broad said. But they should not have allowed New Zealand to get to 182 so easily. Among the misfields, Pietersen let a gentle four through and Ambrose dropped Daniel Vettori.

Grant Elliott, promoted from Weybridge in the Surrey Championship last week, made 56, with almost half of his runs backward of point as Collingwood failed to plug the gap. The last 14 balls, from a misfiring James Anderson and Wright, a part-time seamer, produced 37 runs. The team's failings were summed up by the placing of Chris Tremlett, who had his best day as a bowler for England but is the team's least agile fielder, at long-off. where he dived late for a catch off Mills, sending the ball for four.

Scoreboard

New Zealand
J M How b Broad 10
B B McCullum c Pietersen b Anderson 17
L R P L Taylor b Broad 8
S B Styris c Ambrose b Tremlett 4
D R Flynn c Tremlett b Anderson 2
G D Elliott c Wright b Anderson 56
†G J Hopkins c sub b Collingwood 7
*D L Vettori c Shah b Swann 18
K D Mills c Collingwood b Wright 47
T G Southee c Pietersen b Wright 0
M R Gillespie not out 0
Extras (lb 6, w 7) 13

Total (50 overs) 182

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-37, 3-42, 4-42, 5-49, 6-75, 7-110, 8-164, 9-168.

Bowling: Anderson 10-0-61-3; Broad 10-4-14-2; Tremlett 10-1-24-1; Wright 6-0-34-2; Collingwood 10-0-33-1; Swann 4-0-10-1.

England
I R Bell c McCullum b Elliott 20
L J Wright c Styris b Mills 2
K P Pietersen c Elliott b Mills 4
R S Bopara c How b Southee 27
*P D Collingwood lbw b Southee 34
O A Shah c Styris b Southee 0
†T R Ambrose c Taylor b Southee 0
G P Swann c Taylor b Styris 29
S C J Broad c Hopkins b Vettori 17
C T Tremlett c Vettori b Elliott 3
J M Anderson not out 0
Extras (lb 8, w 15, nb 1) 24

Total (46.2 overs) 160

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-19, 3-62, 4-64, 5-64, 6-64, 7-129, 8-152, 9-160.

Bowling: Mills 10-0-42-2; Gillespie 8-3-15-0; Southee 10-2-38-4; Elliott 5.2-2-9-2; Vettori 9-1-32-1; Styris 4-0-16-1.

Umpires: S J Davis (Australia) and P J Hartley. TV umpire: N J Llong. Match referee: J Srinath (India). Reserve umpire: R T Robinson.

Man of the match: K D Mills (New Zealand).

Series details

First match: England won by 114 runs (Chester-le-Street).

Second: No result (Edgbaston).

To come:

Fourth: Wednesday (Brit Oval).

Fifth: Saturday (Lord’s).