England cricketing disasters can come with the bar set very high, but even by their lofty standards this was par excellence.

The defeat, at the hands of an urgent New Zealand superbly led by Brendon McCullum, went beyond the realms of simple humiliation (that happened a week ago in the Melbourne Cricket Ground) and entered that of fantasy, a dream, a nightmare.

This did not really happen, did it? Except it did. At one stage in the 26th over, England were 104 for three: eight overs later they had been bowled out for 123, with the brilliant pace bowler Tim Southee taking seven for 33 with fast, full away swing, the third best bowling figures in World Cup history and including a spell of five for 10 in 19 balls.

England would still have fancied their chances, if not of winning, at least of making New Zealand work for their runs. Instead, McCullum, unencumbered by any notion of restraint, launched such a brutal attack on the England pace bowlers that by the time he missed a straight full toss from Chris Woakes, he had made 77 from 25 balls, with eight fours and seven sixes and had added 105 for the first wicket in one ball more than seven overs.

There is a competition running throughout the World Cup for spectators to catch the ball in the crowd and he gave every opportunity, four of his sixes coming from successive deliveries from Steve Finn, whose two overs cost a staggering 49 runs: the last time he had a ball in his hand it was to complete a hat-trick.

The game might, indeed ought, to have finished before the scheduled break but, with 12 runs needed and nine wickets in hand, a final absurdity saw the umpires take the players from the field to have a bite of supper.

At that the crowds streamed away from the ground in disgust (many, at work and looking forward to the evening session under lights, had not yet arrived) and even the Dawn Princess, the cruise ship that had been tied up for several days alongside the ground, cast off and sailed away.

The ICC need to introduce a common sense clause to the playing regulations. It was, said Eoin Morgan wryly, the least of his worries. There were 226 balls remaining.

The match was lost with the bat, McCullum’s licence to throw his in a manner of which very few are capable totally contingent on the success of his bowlers. Despite winning the toss and batting, England were wary of the new ball capabilities of Southee and Trent Boult, and the pair did find movement, enough to justify an element of caution.

But when the ball is swinging, not hugely but sufficient, then countermeasures are needed. Not only did the atmospherics of the stadium demand it, but so too the dimensions with longer straight boundaries than square so the length was always going to be full, and both Boult and Southee were exemplary in that regard.

The trick then is to make the bowler change his length, and by standing out of the crease, it means a yard shorter in length and a yard less air time for the ball to swing. Not only did England not attempt this, but Gary Ballance goes so far back in his crease, and across the offstump, that lbw comes into the equation, something he was fortunate to survive by the skin of his teeth early on.

The key to Southee’s success though was the manner in which he adjusted his line. His opening over, to Ian Bell, saw all but a single delivery swing well wide of off stump.

What Southee then did is to go wide of the crease, and direct the ball initially towards middle and leg, to leg, as if bowling to a left hander, so that when it straightens it does so onto the line of off stump rather than swinging away from it.

It is an obvious geometric skill but one not employed sufficiently often by bowlers who see only the ball dipping away to a coterie of catchers. He was also fortunate in that Morgan, by his own admission, not anticipating such movement, had made a mistake in batting first, and that the ball, for the first time in a while, continued to swing right through the England innings.

There has to be enormous credit due to McCullum though. He is, by some measure, the outstanding leader in world cricket, someone who is not just up with the game but ahead of it. He attacks at all times, and backs his bowlers, who in turn respond.

One stroke of intuition, or perhaps it was obvious, changed the course of the England innings. England had lost both openers, Bell and Moeen Ali to superb deliveries from Southee, the first swinging outside Bell’s blade to hit off stump, the second yorking Moeen neck and crop, and Ballance, lacking fluidity but gaining a foothold, had swatted an ineffective ball from Boult to extra cover. But now Morgan and Joe Root were putting together a partnership of a kind England needed.

Sensing that New Zealand were still wrenching the game from them, Morgan himself took an attacking option and attempted to hit Dan Vettori’s left arm spin straight. Instead he dragged it slightly, and off centre, the ball hanging in the air before being well taken in the deep by the diving Milne.

Immediately, McCullum seized the opportunity and brought back Southee for the new batsman James Taylor. Two balls later Taylor had been yorked and the procession began: Buttler, driving without due care edging to Luke Ronchi; Chris Woakes hopelessly beaten and bowled; Stuart Broad, hacking like a novice, getting a leading edge to mid off, and Steven Finn caught at first slip, one of four men posted in that region.

After batting for 70 balls, Root had no choice but to go for his shots.

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