Ahmedabad: Brilliant centuries by Devon Conway (152 n o, 121b, 19×4, 3×6) and Rachin Ravindra (96b, 11×4, 5×6) helped New Zealand defeat England by nine wickets in the tournament opener of the ODI World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium here Thursday. The two put on an unbeaten stand of 283 runs for the second wicket after New Zealand chasing a victory target of 283 had lost Will Young in the seventh ball of the innings.
Both Conway and Ravindra treated the England bowling with disdain picking up runs at will on a pitch which was on the slower side. It was expected that England spinners will pose some questions to the opposition batters. However, both Conway and Ravindra handled pace and spin with aplomb taking New Zealand over the line very comfortably.
Earlier despite being without one of their main bowlers Tim Southee, the Kiwis made regular inroads to keep England’s long batting line-up in check and restrict the defending champions to a moderate 282 for nine.
New Zealand spinners exploited the hot and humid conditions in the afternoon perfectly to be on top against England’s free-flowing and aggressive batting approach, producing a collective bowling performance.
With his part-time spin, Glenn Phillips (2/17) delivered an unexpected but successful spell accounting for Joe Root (77, 86b, 4×4, 1×6) and Moeen Ali (11), while Mitchell Santner’s (2/37) and Matt Henry’s (3/48) also contributed to England’s mediocre total.
The first runs of the 2023 World Cup came off a six when Jonny Bairstow (33, 35b, 4x4s, 1x6s) cleared the backward square ropes with a flick off the pads on the second ball of the tournament from Trent Boult (1/48).
A boundary followed soon as England collected 12 runs off the first over to make their intentions clear, but things changed thereafter.
Having troubled Dawid Malan (14) early on, Henry had him caught behind in the eighth over for the first breakthrough. New Zealand did not have to wait long for the second wicket, as an inside-out shot over cover off Santner had Bairstow walking back, being caught by Daryl Mitchell comfortably inside the ropes.
With England not getting off to a flier, Harry Brook (25) looked to be aggressive against Ravindra, hitting the left-arm spinner for two fours and a six in the 18th over but went for a shot too many. Another short ball from the Kiwi spinner had Brook hitting high in the air, grabbed cleanly by Devon Conway.
An inspired move to bring on Phillips to roll over his arm in the 22nd over yielded another success, with the right-arm bowler cleaning up Moeen (11) for the fourth wicket of the innings to keep England under the pump.
A 70-run association between Root and skipper Jos Buttler (43, 42b, 2x4s, 2x6s) for the fifth wicket provided England with the hope of a strong revival after early struggles, but Henry returned to have the England captain caught behind and peg them back again.
Having not played much ODI cricket over the last four years, it was a commendable effort from Root to have scored his 36th fifty in the format — which also included a ramp shot for six — but the senior batter was guilty of throwing away his wicket.
Root opted for a reverse sweep against part-time spin of Phillips — who also has kept wickets in the past for the Kiwis — but missed connecting with it and was caught plumb in front.
Brief scores: England 282 for 9 (Joe Root 77, Jos Buttler 43, Matt Henry 3/48, Glenn Phillips 2/17, Mitchell Santer 2/37) lost to New Zealand 283 for 1 in 36.2 overs (Devon Conway 152 n o, Rachin Ravindra 123 n o) by nine wickets.
