NZ vs ENG 2025: 'They've hammered us' - Harry Brook on 'disappointing' losses to New Zealand

English white-ball captain Harry Brook commented on the "disappointing" nature of the defeats against New Zealand in the first and second ODIs of the three-match series. The Kiwis won the first and second matches with 80 balls and 101 balls to spare, respectively.

Brook said that the players who underperformed had such caliber that they would slot in any international team around the world. He also admitted that New Zealand have been the better team.

"It's disappointing, isn't it. You go round every single player there and you think, 'bloody hell, there aren't many teams that they don't get into in the world'. It's disappointing we haven't performed as well as we could. It happens. They've played well and sometimes you've got to hold your hand up and say they've been the better team," stated Brook, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"It's (England's ODI playing style) not too dissimilar to the way we play Test cricket, really. We play aggressively in Test cricket and it's not too far off. Obviously, we haven't played much one-day cricket in the last however many years. I can't quite put my finger on why we haven't batted well enough. It's just one of those things. You come to play the second-best team in the world on their own patch and they've hammered us," he added.

England came into the 50-over leg on the back of a T20I series win against the hosts. Two matches were washed out due to rain. The Three Lions won the second T20I by 65 runs. However, the batting lineup was not able to fire in the first two ODIs in Mount Maunganui and Hamilton.

Brook's solo blitz (135 off 101) was not enough to win his team the series-opening clash. Despite saving England from a top-order collapse, they were eventually bundled out for 223 in 35.2 overs. Jamie Overton, who scored the second-most in the first match with 46 off 54, was England's top-scorer with 42 off 28 in the subsequent encounter.