New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said that real damage to the Test series, which was won by England 2-0, was done at the first day of the first Test match at Lord's.
England sealed a dominant 2-0 series victory at Headingley by 247 runs in between spells of misty drizzle and reaffirmed the gap between the second and eighth-ranked sides which seemed to have narrowed during the drawn home series, Stuff.co.nz reports.
Agreeing that the turning point of the series was the previous Sunday at Lord's, McCullum said that although the team was upbeat and confident about chasing 239 in the first test, they folded for 68 in a brutal two-hour period on day four.
The skipper further said that until that point, they had a high self-belief, which was broken after they went down in the game, adding that it also created self-doubt among the players.
According to McCullum, although his team still dominated the series periodically but those times did not last long enough, adding that the periods of English domination seemed to last a lot longer.
According to the report, McCullum completed a forgettable series, from the highs of New Zealand in March, when Broad scooped up a brilliant caught and bowled from a low full toss, adding that former captain Ross Taylor was the only member of the top-five to top 100 runs in four innings in England.
However, McCullum said that the Black Caps have got the makings of a very good cricket team as they have the right mix and balance to keep improving as a team and smooth out some of their rough edges, adding that technical changes, rather than personnel changes, was the key to further improvement.