India (Commonwealth) _ The opening match of the 13th ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup saw New Zealand defeat England by nine wickets in Ahmedabad. An unbroken 273-run third-wicket stand between Rachin Ravindra (123*) and Devon Conway (152*) propelled New Zealand to a nine-wicket victory.
New Zealand had a strong tournament debut by achieving the mark in just 36.2 overs in response to England’s 282/9.
Early in their innings, New Zealand lost Will Young after receiving a first-ball duck. Nevertheless, this attracted Ravindra, who teamed up with Conway to ignite the first Powerplay. The opening Powerplay saw the Black Caps hit two sixes and 13 fours. Both sixes were made. Both of Ravindra’s sixes—one against Mark Wood and the other against Moeen Ali—came off his bat.
The pair continued to score at a rate closer to eight over the next few overs after helping New Zealand reach 81/1 in the first Powerplay. They also reached their respective half-centuries in the 12th and 13th overs, marking significant personal milestones.
After the drinks break, the scoring rate slightly decreased, but Conway and Ravindra quickly resumed their winning ways. At the 25-over stage, their unbroken stand of 177 runs was already the best partnership for two New Zealand hitters in a Cricket World Cup match. They surpassed Chris Harris and Lee Germon’s 168-run stand from 1996.
After the halfway point, the pair carried on with their unstoppable run. During their stand, they also attained their respective tonnage. It was Conway’s fifth ODI hundred and Ravindra’s first ODI century. The England bowling lost its edge as the pair got closer to the objective. In the 37th over, they were able to surpass the total.
To start off #CWC23, Devon Conway hammered a magnificent century. Prior to this, England was held to 282/9 thanks to Matt Henry’s outstanding 3/48 and significant contributions from Mitchell Santner (2/37) and Glenn Phillips (2/17).
The addition of Jos Buttler in the 22nd over during the England innings increased the rate of scoringThe England captain took a moment to get his bearings before pursuing the bowlers. In the 27th over, he carted Ravindra over the rope for his maiden boundary.
He continued to press on and ended his inning with two fours and two sixes. New Zealand appeared to be losing the game, but Henry later made a comeback and caught Buttler from behind for a score of 43.
Even when Joe Root and Liam Livingstone attempted to go for their runs, England continued their offensive approach. However, the batting side never had the game in the bag thanks to the Black Cap bowlers’ sharp bowling. Livingstone was eliminated by Boult in the 39th over, while Root was dismissed in the 42nd over after misplaying a reverse sweep.
Adil Rashid and Mark Wood’s unbeaten 30-run partnership for the 10th wicket helped England reach 282 despite many wickets falling to New Zealand bowlers in the last powerplay. It had never happened before for an entire side of eleven hitters to reach double figures.
Jonny Bairstow kicked off England’s championship defense as they stepped up to the plate by hitting a six off the game’s very first ball. He sent into the stands an errant Trent Boult delivery that had strayed down the legside. To prevent England from moving closer to run the ball, he fired a variety of aggressive strikes. However, against the Kiwi pacers, his partner Dawid Malan found the going to be difficult. In the eighth over, Malan ultimately nicked one behind off Henry.
The two World Cup finalists from the 2019 Cricket World Cup squared off again in the tournament’s opening game. On that particular occasion, England narrowly defeated New Zealand to win the trophy.
