New Zealand registered a crushing nine-wicket victory over defending champions England in the opening match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Thursday (October 5).
Invited to bat first, England posted 282/9 on the board with key contributions from Joe Root (77 off 86) and skipper Jos Buttler (43 off 42).
Matt Henry starred with the ball for New Zealand, claiming three wickets by conceding just 48 runs in his 10 overs. Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips also returned with a couple of scalps each.
In reply, the Kiwis lost opener Will Young for a first-ball duck. It was the first and only wicket England managed to take during the innings as the duo of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra took their bowling attack to the cleaners.
Conway and Ravindra were severe on pacers as well as the spinners. The pair brought up the hundred for the team in the 13th over and continued the carnage thereafter.
Conway reached the three-figure mark off 83 balls whereas Ravindra took 82 deliveries to notch up his maiden century in the 50-over format. Both the left-handers eventually stayed not out and shared an unbroken 273-run stand to take New Zealand over the line in just 36.2 overs.
While Devon Conway finished with 152* off 121 balls, Rachin Ravindra remained unbeaten on 123 off 96 balls.
For their clinical display with the ball, Conway and Ravindra received rich praise from the cricket fraternity on X.
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