New Zealand kicked of their World Cup 2023 campaign in a style, crushing England by nine wickets in opening match of the event at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Thursday.
Glorious hundreds from Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra guided Black Caps to chase the target of 283 runs in just 36.2 overs.
Conway lit up the world cup opener with lively hundred as he amassed unbeaten 152 while Ravindra also showed magic with bat by scoring 123 runs off 96 balls.
In what could be dubbed as one-sided show, English bowlers seemed helpless as they struggled to take wickets and restrict Kiwis from chasing the target.
Earlier, the Black Caps put England to bat first after winning the toss. Jos Buttler’s side posted 282-9.
England opening pair attempted to take a strong start but their partnership was broken apart when Dawid Malan caught out for 14 off 24 balls. Opener Jonny Balrstow (33) tried to smash a drive on Santner’s ball but caught by Mitchell in 13th over.
After average start, Joe Root put his team in command as he made 77 off 86 before being dismissed by Glenn Phillips. Harry Brook and Moeen Ali made 25 and 11, respectively.
Jos Buttler tried to regain the momentum built by Root but he was sent to pavilion for 43. After his dismissal, England were quick to lose wickets of their tail order as Sam Curran and Chris Woakes removed for 14 and 11, respectively. Adil Rashid made 15 runs and Mark Wookd scored 12 runs as they managed to save the last wicket.
Henry took three wickets while Santer and Phillips grabbed two scalps each.
Earlier coverage
The New Zealand team are without their key batsman Williamson who is recovering from injuries. He is expected to play the next match.
Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar, ambassador of the event, brought the scintillating trophy to the field and waved to his jubilant fans. The two teams also bowed their heads in deference to their national anthems.
Every four years, the cricket lovers enjoy the skills of their favourite players with their stylish knocks. The World Cup is a mega one-day international (ODI) cricket event.
As many as 10 teams – Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka – are going to battle to strengthen their reign in the cricket world.
The quadrennial event started in 1975 and it’s India which is going to host its 13th edition. The bout will start at 1:30pm between these two finalist teams of the last World Cup.
Both teams clashed in 96 ODI matches. Of these, the English team won 45 and black caps remained successful in 45 fixtures. Two matches were declared tied and four matches culminated without any result.
