Cook rues England’s weakened attack

A crushing 86-run defeat – after Guptill’s national record 189 not out helped to pile up 359 for three at the Ageas Bowl – confirmed New Zealand as winners of the NatWest Series, with the final match of three still to come at Trent Bridge.

Jonathan Trott, who dropped Guptill on just 13, replied with a century of his own, and he was quicker than the Kiwi opener to three figures by more than two overs in balls faced.

But the England number three’s unbeaten 109 received little lasting support, captain Alastair Cook citing the ‘‘scoreboard pressure’’ of such a big chase as mitigation for five individual innings between 21 and 34.

By contrast, Kane Williamson (55), Ross Taylor (60) and finally New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum all shared century stands with Guptill.

England were without injured frontline seamers Stuart Broad and Steven Finn and Cook expects to know more at some point today about their likely recovery in time for the Champions Trophy opening match against Australia on Saturday.

In their absence others struggled, Jade Dernbach in particular.

After Guptill and McCullum had taken maximum advantage of wickets in hand, Cook acknowledged New Zealand had simply got away from England on their way to an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

‘‘I think 320 was about par, and very gettable to chase,’’ Cook said.

‘‘The last five overs went for 85 runs, so that’s pretty much where they obviously did the damage.

‘‘But they earned the right to do that by keeping wickets in hand right up until that time.

‘‘They were 270 going into that last five, only three wickets down.

‘‘Even if they’d scored at 10- an-over for those last five, 320 or 330 leaves us in with a chance to win that game.

Those extra 30 runs really hurt us.’’ The England captain made sure he gave Guptill due credit, rather than lamenting his own bowlers’ efforts.

‘‘It was obviously a tough day (for us),’’ Cook said.

‘‘Huge credit to the way Guptill played, 190 in a oneday game is a very special innings.

‘‘He made us pay, and what was impressive was he always managed to find the right option at the right time.

‘‘If we did build a couple of dots on him, he’d always manage to get the release with a four without taking too big a risk.’’ England’s batsmen were always likely to be up against it.

‘‘The scoreboard pressure when you’re chasing 360, that is what it is,’’ added Cook.

‘‘You’re trying to keep up with the rate, but take minimal risk.

‘‘Trotty’s was an outstanding hundred, and we needed those 30s or 40s at a lot less than a run-a-ball to turn into 50s and 60s to give ourselves a chance.

‘‘Even towards the end, you saw how hard it is to defend the Ageas Bowl. You’re always thinking ‘if only we were two or three wickets down’.

‘‘But New Zealand earned the right to put us under that pressure by getting 360.

‘‘I just think any side chasing 360, it’s going to be very tough. How many times has that been chased in history?

That proves how hard it would be.’’ It has been done just once, in fact - and England’s inability to add new history left Mc- Cullum with a smile on his face.

‘‘It’s very, very special for the guys involved in the team, and something we will savour,’’ he said.

‘‘The boys are delighted to come over here and play against a team as good as England, in their own conditions, and have wrapped the series up after two games.

‘‘We’ve done it in a fashion that shows how good a team we can be.’’ McCullum was especially pleased to see Guptill manage his innings so maturely, as he posted a second successive unbeaten century against England.

‘‘I think it was the batsmanship through the middle stages that I found the most impressive,’’ McCullum said.

‘‘It was great through those middle phases at Lord’s the other day, but today I thought it even went up a notch.

‘‘The batsmanship was outstanding to see.

‘‘We all know his striking ability, and when you couple those two aspects together I’d probably say it’s as good an innings as we’ve seen in one-day cricket from New Zealand.’’