Cricket: England captain has plenty of respect for NZ

Battered England captain Eoin Morgan has paid New Zealand a big compliment ahead of their clash in Wellington on Friday.

Thrashed by Australia by 111 runs at the MCG last night, Morgan's troops now decamp across the Tasman and the captain warned things would get no easier for his team.

"We've got a tough challenge," Morgan said. "We said the first two games of the tournament would be the toughest in our group and to come out of those games with results would give us huge confidence.

"I'm hoping there will be a higher level of skill produced [against New Zealand].

"Our first two games are the toughest," he reiterated. "We'll have to be close to our best as individuals to beat these sides."

While New Zealand travel south to Dunedin for a clash with associate side Scotland, England have all week to stew on a substandard outing.

"The most frustrating thing is we made errors we haven't been making this trip.

"Australia played well but we had the opportunity to take the game to them but we didn't take it."

Expect a reaction of sorts from England. The likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn are too good to keep going for seven per over, but whether their best is good enough to beat New Zealand at the moment remains to be seen.

It seems their captain, at least, has his doubts.

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