Englishmen commit hara-kiri

England were undone by some rash shots on their way to 209 for seven in their opening World Cup Group C clash with New Zealand on Friday.

England were undone by some rash shots on their way to 209 for seven in their opening World Cup Group C clash with New Zealand on Friday.

They lost their three key middle order batsmen, Paul Collingwood 31, Kevin Pietersen 60 and Andrew Flintoff 0, in rapid succession to lose momentum completely. However, an unbeaten 71-run partnership between Paul Nixon 42 and Liam Plunkett 29 gave England at least something to bowl at when New Zealand bat on an extremely slow, sticky wicket.

Heavy morning rain forced the start to be delayed by half an hour, with the wet conditions leading New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming to put England in to bat. But the bowlers needed little help early on, with England8217;s top three getting themselves out with loose shots.

Opener Ed Joyce wafted away from his body and edged James Franklin behind to Brendon McCullum for a duck in the second delivery of the first over after a no-ball. Ian Bell then made five before making the same mistake against Jacob Oram.

Captain Michael Vaughan, set to play a full part in the game after recovering from knee and hamstring problems, played some exuberant shots in his 26 before dragging a Franklin ball on to his stumps.

Pietersen, making his first one-day competitive international appearance since breaking his rib in January, then steadied the innings with 60 before a mini-collapse left England reeling. Later on, the tail wagged against wicketless spinners Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel to push England8217;s total up.

SCOREBOARD

ENGLAND: E Joyce c McCullum b Franklin 0, M Vaughan b Franklin 26, I Bell c McCullum b Oram 5, K Pietersen c Franklin b Bond 60, P Collingwood c McCullum b Styris 31, A Flintoff c Styris b Bond 0, J Dalrymple c McCullum b Styris 3, P Nixon not out 42, L Plunkett not out 29

Extras lb2, w4, nb7: 13; Total For 7 wkts; 50 overs: 209

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Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-30, 3-52, 4-133, 5-133, 6-134, 7-138

Bowling: J Franklin 9-0-43-2, S Bond 10-1-19-2, J Oram 6-0-25-1, J Patel 8-0-42-0, D Vettori 10-0-53-0,S Styris 7-0-25-2

8211;Mark Meadows