Moeen Ali is adamant that England can learn from their loss to Australia on Saturday and bounce back against New Zealand.
England suffered a heavy 111-run defeat in their first Pool A game in the World Cup and come up against the co-hosts on Friday after they made it two victories from two with a nervy three-wicket win over Scotland.
However, Moeen said that the squad were not too downhearted by the opening loss.
“We’ve got so much to play for, it's just one game and a World Cup isn’t just decided over one game,” he explained.
“It’s a long period of time and there’s a long way to go and hopefully today we can get some good practice in and on Friday we can come back really ready to go.
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“Obviously we’re disappointed by the result but we’re over it now. We know we have to move on and the next game is very important for us.”
The all-rounder, who went wicketless and was dismissed for 10 by Mitchell Starc in Saturday’s encounter, admitted England were expecting a tough game at the Wellington Regional Stadium.
“I think Australia set the standard with how good they are, New Zealand is going to be just as hard we feel, so we’re going to have to up our skill level and up our game a little bit,” he said.
“It just shows how tough international cricket is and especially in a major tournament. We’ll have to be ready.”
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A win against Brendon McCullum’s side would be a statement of intent, according to Moeen, who thinks England’s tough start to the competition against two of the tournament favourites could help them in the long run.
He said: “They’re probably two of the best sides, including South Africa, so two tough games up front – hopefully if we can win on Friday it puts us in a great position I feel and it will show everybody that we’re a good, serious side.”
After enjoying a traditional Powhiri welcome in Wellington, the Worcestershire man said he was looking forward to doing a bit of sight-seeing, with England based in New Zealand for the next three games until they face Bangladesh in Adelaide on March 9.
“I really enjoyed Australia, it’s a nice, lovely place and obviously we’re going to have a look at Wellington now as a place as well,” he said.
“I think it was nice just to have a couple of days off with the travel and stuff and just put our feet up, and now hopefully today with training we’ll go hard.”