New Zealand kicked of their World Cup 2023 campaign in 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 the Black Caps to chase the target of 283 runs in just 36.2 overs.
Conway lit up the World Cup opener with a lively hundred as he amassed an unbeaten 152 while Ravindra also showed magic with bat by scoring 123 runs off 96 balls.
🔸Career-best individual scores
🔸An unbeaten 273-run standRachin Ravindra and Devon Conway were in top form in the #CWC23 opener 🔥#ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/BJlEmcmstl
— ICC (@ICC) October 5, 2023
In what could be dubbed a 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’s 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 Bairstow (33) tried to smash a drive on Santner’s ball but caught by Mitchell in 13th over.
After an 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.
