And captain Nasser Hussain said his batsmen, "Threw the game away; it's as simple as that."

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England fell from 156 for two to 196 all out in Christchurch, a total their hosts surpassed with three overs and four wickets in hand.

"They have repeated the same problems too often," Fletcher told BBC Radio Five Live.

"Someone has got to hold their hand up in the middle order and take responsibility.

"We've given them instructions and plans as to how to play but they just haven't adhered to them.

"They've got to start thinking about what's going on out there."

This is the fifth such collapse this year, with the others during the six-match series in India.

And it came after another sterling start from opener Nick Knight, who made 73 in partnerships with Thorpe and captain Nasser Hussain.

"We got ourselves ahead of every position we wanted to be in," said Hussain. "But to lose 60 for eight is just not good enough."

Kiwi collapse

The England skipper paid tribute to Darren Gough's four wickets - three of which came in a single over - but said it was too late to save the match.

"It was a special spell, but we lost the game earlier than that."