Fleming was one of James Anderson's victims in Hobart

"Our batsmen were a little tentative," he said. "We would have given a lot to get 20 more runs.

"On a slower wicket you need to play with a bit of courage and that is what we need to get back into our game.

"We can curse and be unhappy about some of the chances that went down but the batsmen did not do their job."

New Zealand struggled to 205-9 in Hobart with only Nathan Astle getting above 30.

England make hard work of the chase and New Zealand were still in the hunt right until the end but Andrew Flintoff, who hit an unbeaten 72, steered them home with one run to spare.

We are not playing well at all but we are still competing in some areas which is a positive sign New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming

"We did not come off a great series with Sri Lanka," added Fleming. "We wanted to start well here and we have not done that.

"We knew we would have to do a lot in the field to get the 20 or 30 runs that we were short. We came close but in the end that was the telling factor.

"England were a bit tentative as well which gave us a chance.

"It was a slug out on a slow pitch that asked for someone to put their hand up and Freddie did that.

"We felt that if we picked up another couple of wickets we would have been pretty happy.

"But England were able to get a couple of partnerships together and that is crucial because you get the pace of the wicket and you are not introducing new players all the time and that is what happened in our innings.

"It all comes back to the batsmen. We were 20/30 runs short."

New Zealand have now lost their opening two games of the Tri-Series but Fleming remains hopeful that his side can still qualify for the final.

"We are still pretty positive," he said. "We are disappointed with this weekend but there are still six games to go and we can only get better.

"We are not playing well at all but we are still competing in some areas which is a positive sign."