New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has admitted that England were too good for his side in the seven-wicket loss at Trent Bridge on Wednesday.
The Black Caps reached 349-7 from their 50 overs but centuries from Eoin Morgan and Joe Root guided the hosts to an emphatic win with six overs to spare, and McCullum was unable to hide his disappointment with his team's bowling display.
"It was an incredible run chase. At halfway, 350 is a whole lot of runs and we knew they were going to have to play well to beat us, and they did," McCullum told Sky Sports News.
"We lacked a bit of accuracy with the ball. Our plans are to try and hit the top of off stump on this wicket. It skidded on a bit as well, but we weren't as accurate as we needed to be and against good players there's no room for that sort of error.
"We need to get better. But credit to England, to chase 350 in any game is outstanding and to do it at 2-1 down to stay alive is credit to them."
The series is level at 2-2 ahead of the fifth and final one-day international in Durham on Saturday.