"We have ourselves to blame": Dawid Malan bemoans England's fall in standards during New Zealand defeat

Malan dropped one of five chances as the tourists crashed to a 21-run defeat in Wellington as the series was levelled

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Dawid Malan has bemoaned the manner in which England allowed their standards to slip during defeat to New Zealand in the second T20 international in Wellington.

The tourists dropped five catches during the Kiwi innings and were then bowled for just 155 in the chase, with only four batsmen reaching double figures.

Malan top-scored with 39 from 29 balls but he was among the fielders guilty of shelling a chance, as the Black Caps set a target of 177 to win.

James Vince dropped three while Sam Billings also shelled an opportunity as those in the field were unable to back-up an otherwise impressive bowling performance.

The display showed few signs of improving when Jonny Bairstow was dismissed first ball of the reply before Vince perished in the next over.

NOW READ: T20 TALKING POINTS: England's bad case of dropsy helps New Zealand extend Cake Tin run

Morgan (32) and Chris Jordan (36) did provide some resistance but it was not enough to prevent New Zealand from squaring the five-match series at 1-1 ahead of the third T20I in Nelson on Tuesday.

"We fielded really badly. We dropped a lot of catches, myself included, and it wasn't to the standards this England team sets," Malan told Sky Sports.

"We then lost wickets at crucial times. Every time we got some momentum with an 11, 12 or 13-run over we lost a wicket in the next over or hit a six and then got out next ball.

"I know we had to go with the rate up at 12 an over but with these boundaries and the way the wicket was playing [we could have been better].

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Chris Jordan's late cameo provided some respectability to the outcome

"It showed the way CJ [Jordan] came out that and whacked them that you are one over away from being in the game, so we probably have ourselves to blame.

"We spoke about the fact that if you are under pressure here then it is so small that you can go square. We did play a couple of bad shots and take the wrong option and that's something we need to get better at.

"The good thing about the way Morgs [Morgan] and Silvers [head coach Chris Silverwood] run the show is that they don't put a lot of pressure on you.

"We speak about what we need to get better at and it's up to us to rectify those problems."

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