New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was disappointed in his side's fielding performance in the first T20 against England on Saturday, after they dropped five catches that allowed the visitors to reach 214 and win by 40 runs.

Ross Taylor, newly returned to the side, dropped two catches, both off Luke Wright who went on to make 42, while Ronnie Hira and Mitchell McClenaghan also let the ball go to ground at crucial times.

England hit 15 sixes on their way to their huge score, thanks in part to the small boundaries at Eden Park. But McCullum was hesitant to blame that for his side's loss, as they made 174 for nine themselves.

The skipper said: "They put us under pressure right from the get-go, and we were never able to claw it back. No one means to drop catches. But five drops in a Twenty20 game is never going to help your cause.

"It's an area we normally pride ourselves on. Tonight we were off the pace, with our bowling and batting as well."

McCullum also refused to blame the short boundaries for the big target they needed to chase, saying: "It does bring a quirk to it.

"But that is no excuse from our point of view - we knew the boundary sizes when we came into this game, and they seemed to be able to access them pretty well.

"We know that we have got a lot of room for improvement from today's performance and we know if we execute as well as what we can then we're a live chance in this shorter version of the game so today is disappointing but it is certainly not a major in terms of the series and how it is going to unfold.