Haven't been good enough: England captain Brook makes blunt admission after series defeat

Wellington [New Zealand], November 1 (ANI): White-ball captain Harry Brook declared his side was not "good enough" as England endured their first ODI series whitewash against New Zealand for the first time in 42 years on Saturday.

England's torrid run in ODIs since the 2023 World Cup continued with New Zealand scripting a 3-0 series win at Wellington Regional Stadium. With the Blackcaps taking an unassailable 2-0 lead, England stepped inside the stadium looking to end the series on a positive note.

After being put to bat by visitors, England, who were bundled out in 36 overs during the first two ODIs, survived till 40.2 overs and limped to 222, courtesy of Jamie Overton's 62-ball 68. In reply, Daryl Mitchell (44) and Rachin Ravindra (46) produced blistering displays to hand England a series defeat.

While defending the total, England forced a comeback by picking up wickets at regular intervals, but fell a handful of runs short with more than five overs to spare. Brook was pleased with the way his side fought and is keen to return home with learnings from the series.

"I thought it was an amazing game of cricket at the end. For us to nearly defend a score that wasn't quite enough was a great effort from the lads. We haven't got big enough scores to defend and give the bowlers the best chance to win us games, so we will go back and take the learnings," Brook said after the match as quoted from Sky Sports.

The coin spun in New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner's favour, who put England to bat. Brook felt that losing the toss didn't help their cause on the "tricky" surface on which they eventually got "outplayed".

"It probably didn't help that I didn't win a toss, but New Zealand are the second-best team in the world [in ODIs] for a reason. They have outplayed us, and we haven't been good enough. [Conditions] have been tricky, but if we want to be one of the best teams in the world and win competitions, we have to find a way," Brook concluded. (ANI)

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