Calcutta: Sir Ian Botham has labelled England's crushing defeat to New Zealand as their worst performance in four decades. England suffered an eight-wicket loss in their Pool A match after the Black Caps needed just a little over 12 overs to chase down the paltry target of 124.

'There have been other terrible performances of course, but this was just embarrassing - England were embarrassing... It wasn't even a contest,' Botham wrote in a column.

'In nearly 40 years of playing for and watching England in one-day cricket, I have not seen a worse performance than the one I saw in Wellington on Friday.'

Botham said New Zealand were playing the game the modern way and that was why he had tipped them to win the World Cup. 'But even so, I never imagined that they would do what they have done to an England team that are now in crisis,' said the England legend.

Michael Vaughan feels England's abject World Cup shows have left Peter Moores searching for answers and the coach may lose his job if the team fail to reach the quarter finals. 'Peter is not stupid. He will know the Scotland game and the next four matches are massive in his second tenure as coach,' Vaughan told an England-based newspaper.

'You don't get long second time around. His first stint was not a success and the second time hasn't been so far either.

'Peter simply has to start winning games, qualify for the quarter finals and start competing because at the moment, it is abject,' said Vaughan.