Collingwood hints at unchanged England

Captain Paul Collingwood has given a strong hint that England will keep an unchanged line-up despite suffering a humiliating defeat in the opening match of their one-day series against New Zealand.

Despite comfortable wins in the two Twenty20 Internationals, England slumped to a six-wicket defeat with 20 overs to spare in the first game of the five-match one-day series in Wellington.

"We will go up to Hamilton, have a look at the wicket and assess it, but this side we've had out on the park has been successful in the past and we've been pretty consistent with our selection," he said.

Their disappointing display has prompted plenty of criticism in particular their decision to leave out in-form Hampshire all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, who shined with bat and ball during the two Twenty20 matches.

Mascarenhas, the man of the match in the opening Twenty20 win in Auckland, and Sussex's Luke Wright were left on the sidelines while Ravi Bopara and Alastair Cook returned to the side as England kept faith with the line-up who triumphed unexpectedly in Sri Lanka last October.

But the changes backfired with the tourists dismissed for 130 and although England will look at their line-up again before Tuesday's second match in Hamilton, Collingwood has already hinted the same line-up will be given another chance.

"When Dimi strikes the ball the way he does he's always going to be close to getting into the side," said Collingwood. "That's the good thing at the moment because the squad is very strong and they are difficult decisions to make."

England will practice at Seddon Park before finalising their selection choices prior to Tuesday's second day-night encounter.