New Zealand had to give up their title dreams after losing to England in the final of the last World Cup (2019). This time they got the champions in the first match and took sweet revenge.
The Kiwis crushed the defending champions in the opening match of the ODI World Cup yesterday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Hyderabad. Chasing the target of 283 runs in 36.2 overs, with 9 wickets in hand.
However, New Zealand suffered a setback in the run chase. Will Young (0 for 1) got a golden duck after being caught by the wicketkeeper with the bat touching Sam Curran’s leg-side delivery. The Kiwis lost their first wicket after 10 runs in the second over.
But then Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, who came up with promotions, appeared as Rudramurthy. They played all the great shots and confused the English bowlers.
Conway scored a century off 83 balls. Rachin Ravindra is one ball short of reaching three figures, which is again the record for the fastest century by a QB batsman in the World Cup.
In the second wicket, Conway and Ravindra left the field after winning the match in a devastating partnership of 274 runs off 211 balls.
Rabindra remained unbeaten on 123 runs off 96 balls with 11 fours and 5 sixes. Conway hit 19 fours and 3 sixes in an eye-catching innings of 152 runs off 121 balls.
Before this, England had 7 wickets for 229 runs. When Joe Root got out, there was no specialist batsman. Still, the English set up a challenging capital of 282 runs for 9 wickets.
Kiwi captain Tom Latham won the toss and sent England into bat in Ahmedabad. The start was not bad. Jonny Bairstow and David Malan scored 40 runs off 46 balls in the opening pair.
Malan was slow. Matt Henry made this opener a 14 off 24 balls catch by the wicket keeper. The English lost their first wicket in the eighth over.
Jonny Bairstow settled down. He also had to stop in Mitchell Santner’s whirlwind with 33 runs from 35 balls. However, Harry Brock could not get out of the batting in nature.
The batsman hit two boundaries and a six in the previous three balls in which Rachin Ravindra was dismissed. Brook returned to the dressing room with 25 off 16 balls, 4 boundaries and 1 six. The English lost 3 wickets before the hundred (94 runs).
Moeen Ali surrendered to New Zealand’s spin attack. The all-rounder returned with a bowl while sweeping Glenn Phillips for 11 runs off 17 balls.
Losing 4 wickets for 118 runs, the English are under a lot of pressure. But Joe Root pulled the team from there. The first half-century of this year’s World Cup also came from the hands of this English batter.
This batsman came to the wicket after losing the first wicket in the team’s 40 runs. He took the team to 227 runs. Root scored 77 runs off 86 balls with 4 boundaries and 1 six off Glenn Phillips. This is his 37th fifty in ODI career.
Skipper Jos Buttler gave a small storm in between. Played an innings of 43 runs off 42 balls with 2 four-sixes. Besides, Liam Livingstone scored 20 off 22 balls.
After England lost 7 wickets for 229 runs in the 42nd over, England made a challenging capital of 282 runs riding on the bat of lower order Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid and Mark Wood. Karan 14, Oakes 11, Rashid 15 and Wood scored 13 runs.
Matt Henry of New Zealand took 3 wickets for 48 runs. Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips took two wickets each.
(05 October)