'They haven't performed well...': England captain Harry Brook throws batters under the bus after ODI series defeat to New Zealand

England captain Harry Brook was disappointed with the side's batting display in the first two ODIs of the three-match series against New Zealand and called them out. After batting first in both the matches, England were bowled out for 223 and 175 in the first and second game respectively. In the opening match, no player other than Brook and Jamie Overton managed to even get past the 10-run mark and the performance only worsened in the second game.

New Zealand ended up winning both the games rather comfortably and sealed the series. With England on the verge of a series whitewash, Brook remarked that the performance of the batters just hasn't been good enough and added that it must be disappointing for the fans to watch them play.

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"Everybody in that batting line-up is good enough to face a swinging and seaming ball. In my eyes, that's just an excuse. They're good enough to be able to cope with that and score runs. You go round every single player there and you think, 'bloody hell, there isn't many teams that they don't get into in the world'. They just haven't performed well enough," Brook said after the defeat in 2nd ODI.

"It's disappointing for the fans, who want to watch us. We entertain people, because we play such an exciting brand of cricket. It was only a couple of games ago against South Africa in the summer when we got 400, so we're not a million miles away. It's just about a couple of scores here and there and then we nail it down," he added.

Brook's fine knock in 1st ODI

Notably, Brook was England's top performer in the first ODI as if it weren't for his sensational knock of 135, then the team could have very well been bundled out for a total of less than 100 runs. He was even adjudged as the Player of the Match despite his tem ending up on the losing side. However, he too wasn't able to fire in the second match and lost his wicket for 34 runs.

England look to avoid third straight loss

Meanwhile, England will be hoping to avoid a series whitewash as they take the field at the Sky Stadium in Wellington on November 1 for the third and final ODI of the series against New Zealand.