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Eoin Morgan’s miserable form continued on Saturday night, when England were thoroughly embarrassed at the MCG.
Morgan, installed as England’s one-day skipper after the sacking of Alastair Cook, scored a century in the Tri-Series opener against Australia on January 16.
The Irishman’s five innings since have lasted a total of 24 deliveries and totalled just two runs.
“Our senior players have to stand up, myself included,” Morgan said, when asked what needed to happen for England to defeat New Zealand in their next fixture.
“We probably let ourselves down in the field and our death bowling let us down.
“We started slow and cold in the field, with dropped catches and run-outs.”
Morgan’s World Cup opener was another match to forget – he managed a further duck and opted to field first on a pitch on which Australia scored 9-342.
“We’ll come up with our plans as we did in the Tri-Series. They seemed to work,” Australian coach Darren Lehmann predicted earlier this week.
They certainly did, with wicketkeeper Brad Haddin completing a fine catch after Morgan mistimed a pull shot off the bowling of Mitch Marsh.
Morgan wasn’t the only one to fail in ignominious fashion.
England looked to be on track for a record-breaking defeat when they collapsed to 6-92 in the 22nd over.
However, James Taylor, one of many to muck up in the field, saved some degree of face with an unbeaten 98.
New Zealand’s 215-run loss to Australia in 2007 remains the most-lopsided World Cup match involving a non-Associate team.
Morgan’s bowlers struggled for consistency at the death, when Australia scored 102 runs off the final nine overs.
Their fielding was also an issue, with the reprieve handed to centurion Aaron Finch in the first over the most costly by some margin.
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