Morgan, who captained England to victory in the 2019 World Cup, said New Zealand "dictated play to England" while his former side "didn't throw many punches" with the bat
Eoin Morgan did not hold back in his assessment of England's performance in their World Cup opener, stating his former side "didn't compete" for "a lot of" their nine-wicket defeat against New Zealand.
The defending champions, whom many consider the favourites to lift the trophy again, came into the tournament in high spirits having completed a 3-1 series win over New Zealand in September.
However, in Ahmedabad, the Black Caps cantered to victory, restricting England to an under-par 282 for 9 before completing their chase with 82 balls to spare thanks to brisk centuries from Devon Conway (152 not out off 121) and World Cup debutant Rachin Ravindra (123 off 96).
Speaking on Sky Sports, Morgan labelled England's bowling "undercooked", pinpointing their inability to bowl at the stumps as a particular problem, while their batting was "short by long way" and "not just 30 or 40 [runs]" as Joe Root had assessed.
Joe Root was the only player to build an innings for England [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]
"They were so far off the mark," Morgan said. "There are moments throughout tournaments when you can say you were outplayed but you have to be able to compete in order to say you were. For a lot of the game, England didn't compete.
"When you are favourites and there is that level of expectation on your shoulders, you have to produce – regardless of how good the opposition is and regardless of what stage of the tournament [it is].
"The way New Zealand batted in certain stages today reminded me of how England played against India in that semi-final in Adelaide, where they dictated play to India. It was like New Zealand dictated play to England."
Focusing on England's batting, Morgan identified a lack of aggression and bravery, adding that they "didn't throw many punches".
All 11 of England's players reached double figures but Root, who top-scored with 77 (86), was the only one who really made an impact. He and captain Jos Buttler (43 off 42) shared England's only fifty partnership, putting on 70 (72) for the fifth wicket, while Jonny Bairstow (33 off 35) and Harry Brook (25 off 16) both started brightly but failed to kick on.
New Zealand, by contrast, lost Will Young to a golden duck in the second over before Conway and Ravindra put the hammer down, registering a run rate of 8.1 in the powerplay and 7.3 in the following 10 overs.
New Zealand cruised to victory thanks to centuries from Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]
"England will be kicking themselves," Morgan said. "They did a lot of the hard work and the graft you do to establish a partnership, and at no stage would you say that New Zaland bowled unbelievably well enough to take the wickets that they did. They took wickets in clusters.
"England didn't throw many punches. That's always a good indicator as to whether they went hard enough or not.
"When Jonny Bairstow clipped that six off Trent Boult [in the first over] we were all thinking, 'oh, this is going to be a beauty', and 12 off the first over, we thought now is your opportunity to apply pressure.
"There is a different dynamic at the top of the order with [Dawid] Malan and Bairstow. There's probably more responsibility on Bairstow to lead the charge and be the pace-setter where usually it's been Jason Roy, who does it almost in default mode. So no, they didn't go hard enough."
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