Everybody knew the difference between the pitches in India and New Zealand would be pronounced, and that England would have to adjust, but they got carried away with the change and bowled far too short at Christchurch. Our graph shows the length they bowled throughout New Zealand's innings, with over half their deliveries short of a length (122 out of 231). These cost 59% of the runs off the bat (108 out of 173). Contrast this with the last one-dayer in India, where short deliveries counted for only 21% of the deliveries bowled by England, and 23% of the runs scored off them.

England's worst offender was Andy Caddick, a startling 87% of whose deliveries (39 out of 45) were short of a length. Off those 39 balls, he was walloped for 40 runs.

The new bouncer rule has been praised for revitalising one-day cricket, but it is supposed to be a surprise ball, not the culmination of an over that gets shorter and shorter. England fell short of the standards they set in India here, and they need to revise their strategy before the next match at Wellington.

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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