Black Caps captain Kane Williamson led the way with 87 in their chase for 311.

He's lighter in the wallet, but the batting burden on Kane Williamson is New Zealand's weightiest issue as their Champions Trophy fate rests in English hands.

Worryingly for a second successive one-day cricket international it was four out, all out for the Black Caps as they lost by 87 runs to England who booked top spot from group A.

Key men Williamson and Ross Taylor's departures in quick succession started a collapse of 8-65 as New Zealand were dismissed for 223 in the 45th over in Cardiff.

GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES Luke Ronchi sees the sight every batsman dreads, against Jake Ball in the first over of the Black Caps' run-chase.

It leaves a simple scenario for the blokes in black: beat Bangladesh on Friday night (NZT) then hope England beat Australia the following day, and a semifinal spot is theirs. After Bangladesh and Australia shared the points from a washout, both remain in semifinal contention too.

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It was a heck of a day for Williamson, who called correctly at a coin toss that became a great one to lose. He batted out of his skin, again, for 87 off 98 balls before a snorter from Mark Wood sent him packing.

Then, he was fined 40 per cent of his match fee (around $1500) for New Zealand's slow over rate and faces a one-game ban if the team transgress again. Williamson pleaded guilty to the charge laid by umpires Rod Tucker and Paul Reiffel. His team-mates were each stung 20 per cent of their match fees (around $750) for the Black Caps being two overs behind schedule.

Chasing 311 was daunting but with Williamson in full flight anything is possible. When he departed in the 31st over then Taylor followed three overs later trying to lift the rate, New Zealand still had plenty of batting left.

STU FORSTER/GETTY IMAGES Black Caps bowler Trent Boult dives to catch batsman Jake Ball in the final over of England's innings.

On a much better surface at Edgbaston they lost 7-37 after Williamson was run out for 100 against Australia. This was more pressure-packed and the middle order folded in a heap; key allrounders Jimmy Neesham and Corey Anderson flaying away and Mitchell Santner charging and stumped off a wide.

Neil Broom also had his second scratchy innings in as many starts before Adil Rashid's legspin trapped him in front.

Likely changes are few. Tom Latham could come in at No 5 which would be makeshift only. Colin de Grandhomme could also replace Neesham but whether he adds much more is questionable.

MICHAEL STEELE/GETTY IMAGES Jos Buttler pulls a delivery during his unbeaten innings of 61 off 48 balls to help push England past 300.

They'll likely keep the same batting lineup and, if Williamson is somehow dismissed early, the big test will loom for the middle order who also folded badly against South Africa, in Wellington and Auckland, when the big guns up top missed out.

"It was a tough surface to start on and when we did lose wickets and were required to come out and play more shots with our middle and lower order it was a really tough job," Williamson said.

He added later: "It would have been nice for Ross and myself to take it further and bring it down to that 10-over mark where anything can happen."

Williamson chided himself for getting his gloved thumb to Wood's delivery which reared with venom from a pitch drying fast in the gale force wind.

He was just lifting the rate nicely and with Taylor slowly finding his touch their partnership of 95 gave New Zealand hope.

England looked highly impressive, deserving of their tournament favourites' tag, particularly with the ball where Liam Plunkett (4-55) led the way but the towering Jake Ball (2-31) got man of the match after skittling Luke Ronchi first ball through the gate.

"It [pitch] changed a little bit, but certainly England bowled very, very well. The way they extracted it by cross-seamers, hitting the wicket hard, they're all big lads and they hit that 6m length and created variability in the surface and didn't give us much at all," Williamson said.

"That was a big part of England's success. They stepped it up and learned from the way we operated and did it that much better and made batting quite difficult."

With the ball New Zealand were tidy and finished strongly, even if 310 looked hefty. Williamson felt it was an above par score and England's Eoin Morgan said: "We weren't that pleased with it at the halfway stage, I thought we fell 15-20 runs short of par. We put ourselves in a really good position to go on and get 340. But it shows when you post 300 you're always in with a shout."

Speedster Adam Milne was the biggest threat but went at 7.9 per over; Anderson was golden arm again with big wickets while key spinner Santner had an unhappy game (6.75 RPO) after he was taken on by Joe Root, who topscored with 64 off 65 balls. England's batting depth is another plus, and they'll be very tough for either India or South Africa in the semis.