283/1 (36.2)
CR : 7.79
282/9 (50.0)
CR : 5.64
New Zealand won by 9 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Rachin Ravindra
1/76123(96)
NZ won by 9 wickets
8:39 PM IST, Local Time: BIG BREAKING NEWS!!📢 ENGLAND HAS BEEN HAMMERED!! THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS FAIL TO DEFEND THE TOTAL!
No Kane Williamson, no Tim Southee, no Lockie Ferguson!!
Earlier, Jonny Bairstow kicked off the World Cup with a six in the second ball and elegant strokes dithered here and there, Dawid Malan looked just the opposite. His scratchy knock came to an end as Henry got the better within the powerplay. England did have periodic stands in the middle with all their batters reaching the double-digit mark- a record written for the first time in a World Cup.
Despite a paced start to the innings, England were slowed down by the brilliant change of bowling from Tom Latham. Mitch Santner just followed the new ball pair and kept things tight. Out of the blues, Glenn Phillips entered the fray and snapped two wickets- Moeen Ali and Joe Root.
When the scoreboard read 118-4, Jos Buttler (43 off 43) and Joe Root stabilized the innings with a 70-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Root shut the critics with a marvelous 77 off 86 balls. The constant bowling changes from Latham denied English batters from accelerating in the slog overs and eventually, they had to stagnate at 283-9.
Stay tuned for the presentation ceremony and players' quotes.
No Kane Williamson, no Tim Southee, no Lockie Ferguson!!
But no hiccups as well!!
The modern New Zealand side is full of bench strength and full of quality. Quality bowler in Matt Henry who struck when his reverend partner, Trent Boult failed to strike with the new ball. Quality captain in Tom Latham to fill the shoes of Kane Williamson. And Quality batters in Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway to convert a tricky chase into a cakewalk.
The last two names taken in the above sentence are the prime reasons why New Zealand chased down a target of 283 runs with ease. They get their hands on the revenge for the loss of the Final in WC 2019.
Will Young was dismissed for a golden duck at the start of the second over in anticlimax to the first ball six from Conway. Ravindra, who scored 97 against Pakistan in a warm-up fixture opening the batting was asked to step up at no. 3. Filling the void of Kane Williamson the batter, he steadied a brilliant maiden ton and that too batting above no. 6 for the first time ever.
Ravindra was well assisted by the ever-elegant Devon Conway who struck his third century in the last six ODI innings. The Wellington Firebirds duo coupled a massive 273-run partnership to deny the English team any wickets.
The left-handed duo tackled spin and pace very well throughout. Mark Wood's pace was taken away to the cleaners while Chris Woakes seemed like a fish out of the water. Sam Curran's change of pace was well-read while the spinners were handled with proper rotation of strike.
Will Young was dismissed for a golden duck at the start of the second over in anticlimax to the first ball six from Conway. Ravindra, who scored 97 against Pakistan in a warm-up fixture opening the batting was asked to step up at no. 3. Filling the void of Kane Williamson the batter, he steadied a brilliant maiden ton and that too batting above no. 6 for the first time ever.
Ravindra was well assisted by the ever-elegant Devon Conway who struck his third century in the last six ODI innings. The Wellington Firebirds duo coupled a massive 273-run partnership to deny the English team any wickets.
The left-handed duo tackled spin and pace very well throughout. Mark Wood's pace was taken away to the cleaners while Chris Woakes seemed like a fish out of the water. Sam Curran's change of pace was well-read while the spinners were handled with proper rotation of strike.
Earlier, Jonny Bairstow kicked off the World Cup with a six in the second ball and elegant strokes dithered here and there, Dawid Malan looked just the opposite. His scratchy knock came to an end as Henry got the better within the powerplay. England did have periodic stands in the middle with all their batters reaching the double-digit mark- a record written for the first time in a World Cup.
Despite a paced start to the innings, England were slowed down by the brilliant change of bowling from Tom Latham. Mitch Santner just followed the new ball pair and kept things tight. Out of the blues, Glenn Phillips entered the fray and snapped two wickets- Moeen Ali and Joe Root.
When the scoreboard read 118-4, Jos Buttler (43 off 43) and Joe Root stabilized the innings with a 70-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Root shut the critics with a marvelous 77 off 86 balls. The constant bowling changes from Latham denied English batters from accelerating in the slog overs and eventually, they had to stagnate at 283-9.
Stay tuned for the presentation ceremony and players' quotes.
Player of the Match: Rachin Ravindra
Rachin Ravindra (Player of the Match): "Sometimes it's a bit unbelievable at times. But it was a great day out there. The boys did well to restrict them to 280 and it was great to have Devon down the other end who told me how it's done.
It was great to have Devon. I talk a lot with him and he is like a mentor for me. We are very close mates. We have spent plenty of time at Wellington and it was nice to have him alongside me.
If you ask any of us we knew five years ago that Devon was going to make it to this level.
It was between me and Lockie and I was lucky to get a chance to today. I was lucky enough to sleep last night.
The ball might have swung a bit upfront but the deck was good. It was similar to that one in the warm-up game in Hyderabad and we could hit through the line once set."
It was great to have Devon. I talk a lot with him and he is like a mentor for me. We are very close mates. We have spent plenty of time at Wellington and it was nice to have him alongside me.
If you ask any of us we knew five years ago that Devon was going to make it to this level.
It was between me and Lockie and I was lucky to get a chance to today. I was lucky enough to sleep last night.
The ball might have swung a bit upfront but the deck was good. It was similar to that one in the warm-up game in Hyderabad and we could hit through the line once set."
200+ Partnership in ODI World Cup Chases:
Tillakaratne Dilshan 🤝 Upul Tharanga v ENG (2011)
Kumar Sangakkara 🤝 Lahiru Thirimanne v ENG (2015)
Devon Conway 🤝 Rachin Ravindra v ENG (2023)
Interestingly, all have come against England
Tillakaratne Dilshan 🤝 Upul Tharanga v ENG (2011)
Kumar Sangakkara 🤝 Lahiru Thirimanne v ENG (2015)
Devon Conway 🤝 Rachin Ravindra v ENG (2023)
Interestingly, all have come against England
Akshaya: Lockie Ferguson's injury gave the opportunity to Rachin Ravindra! How does one's downfall give the other a road to success? Not exactly a downfall. Just a niggle. But now Ravindra has done a brilliant job with the bat, showing his quality. It is nearly impossible for the management to drop Ravindra from the XI.
Jos Buttler (England Captain): "Disappointing day. Very much outplayed by New Zealand. It is a tough pill to swallow. But it is just a loss, either by runs or wickets, it is just one loss, still a long tournament to play for.
A lot of cricket has been played by our players. We have defeated teams in this manner, and we have been on the wrong side of the results, but we won't go down that easily.
It was a well below-par surface with the bat after seeing how New Zealand batted on the same surface. I think we were targeting something around 330 earlier.
It was tough to put pressure on them with the start they have got. We haven't been clinical with the executions, which is why we ended up losing. We didn't execute shots as he would have liked. We want to play positive and, at the same time, need to adapt to the conditions and situations, but we can't be too defensive with our clinical shot executions.
Ahh, see, the margin of error is way too less on this pitch. Conway and Rachin both played really well. It was an exceptional partnership, and we were well beaten. See, the ball skidded under the lights, and that made batting a bit easier. Hence, we wanted to bowl first as well.
Joe Root, I think, was back to his old self. There is no question about Joe Root. He is just a run-maker in any format he plays.
Ben Stokes has been working hard with his fitness and with the help of physios. We will wait and see his availability for the second game. Niggles and soreness are a part of sport. Fingers are crossed, and hopefully, he is available."
A lot of cricket has been played by our players. We have defeated teams in this manner, and we have been on the wrong side of the results, but we won't go down that easily.
It was a well below-par surface with the bat after seeing how New Zealand batted on the same surface. I think we were targeting something around 330 earlier.
It was tough to put pressure on them with the start they have got. We haven't been clinical with the executions, which is why we ended up losing. We didn't execute shots as he would have liked. We want to play positive and, at the same time, need to adapt to the conditions and situations, but we can't be too defensive with our clinical shot executions.
Ahh, see, the margin of error is way too less on this pitch. Conway and Rachin both played really well. It was an exceptional partnership, and we were well beaten. See, the ball skidded under the lights, and that made batting a bit easier. Hence, we wanted to bowl first as well.
Joe Root, I think, was back to his old self. There is no question about Joe Root. He is just a run-maker in any format he plays.
Ben Stokes has been working hard with his fitness and with the help of physios. We will wait and see his availability for the second game. Niggles and soreness are a part of sport. Fingers are crossed, and hopefully, he is available."
Tom Latham (New Zealand Captain): "Yeah obviously a fantastic tournament. A fantastic partnership between Conway and Rachin. Fantastic to be able to restrict them to 283 runs and then a fantastic batting to chase it down.
Two warm-up games, a few guys batted in Bangladesh. We have batted in these conditions in the last few years or so. It was great to see the guys adapt so well.
Yeah, the likes of the two seamers- Henry and Boulty [Trent Boult], they did a fantastic job, Guys did when they had to. The spinners bowled brilliantly.
It wasn't over yeah, the best cricketing shots played were the most pleasing things. Wasn’t the plan to come out and play that way. I just say that before. He just played a fantastic innings. Batted a bit higher and we are looking to get around him today.”
An electrifying start to the World Cup 2023 with New Zealand getting their revenge for the 2019 World Cup Final. They start off on a positive note while plenty of work to do for the English boys.
A new hero in the form of Rachin Ravindra for the Kiwis and we got to witness two centuries on the first day itself.
So, this is it from the first match of the bonanza event in India. This is Arijit Kundu and it's time to sign off on behalf of co-commentators, Akshay Bhide and AkshayaKrishna Polya. Shoutouts to scorer/analysts- Zeeshan Naiyer and Raju Khariya. Goodbye and stay tuned.
A new hero in the form of Rachin Ravindra for the Kiwis and we got to witness two centuries on the first day itself.
So, this is it from the first match of the bonanza event in India. This is Arijit Kundu and it's time to sign off on behalf of co-commentators, Akshay Bhide and AkshayaKrishna Polya. Shoutouts to scorer/analysts- Zeeshan Naiyer and Raju Khariya. Goodbye and stay tuned.