Stuart Broad admits decision to bowl first against New Zealand was a mistake

England lost the second Twenty20 international by 55 runs

England captain Stuart Broad admitted choosing to bowl first was a mistake after New Zealand levelled the Twenty20 series with a 55-run win at Hamilton today.

New Zealand posted 192 for six and only a late flourish by Jos Buttler got them to within 55 runs, although the defeat means they slip to sixth in the ICC Twenty20 rankings.

Broad said: "We probably should have batted first - I got that wrong. It was a disappointing performance throughout but Twenty20 can be like that. Things can go well one day and not so well the next.

"Credit New Zealand, they played very well. At the halfway point we were still in with a chance but obviously losing early wickets you're chasing the game from there."

On Buttler, whose 54 from 30 balls spared some of the tourists' blushes by carrying them past both their record low score and worst defeat in this format, Broad continued on Sky Sports 1: "He has hit a lovely run of form, standing still and striking the ball really cleanly.

"It's a shame we couldn't get a few more runs on the board (before Buttler came in). With these smaller grounds you can pretty much chase anything with enough wickets intact.

"It will be an exciting third game, both sides will be going hell for leather to win."

Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum, who led by example with 74, said: "The other night was disappointing and England blew us off the park.

"I thought we played extremely well tonight - it was a much improved performance.

"It's nice to make a contribution, whether captain or not. It was good to play a hand today but so did the other guys and we're very happy with the performance."

On Friday's series finale, he added: "There will be a great crowd and a great spectacle down at Wellington. We have to make sure we step up a gear."

New Zealand pace bowler Ian Butler, who took two wickets for nine runs, added: "The bowlers did a great job to set it up for me. It was a great time to come on to bowl.

"We had to chase 20 too many the other day and today they were probably chasing a similar amount too many. They were forced to take risks and lost wickets.

"We learned from the first game. 175 was a probably a par score but great batting from Brendon at the end got us a little more.

"Personally I can't wait to get to Wellington. We've got a young, fresh team and we'll go there ready to win the series."

PA