New Zealand Flying Start with smashing England by 9 wickets
New Zealand is off to a flying start in the CWC 2023 opener against England. They won the first game by 9 wickets and 13.4 overs left. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra’s unbeaten 273-run partnership helps the team to get off the mark in the CWC 2023. The latter becomes the man of the match for his unbeaten 123 runs off 96 balls.
New Zealand won the toss
In the absence of regular captain Kane Williamson, Tom Latham led the side in the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 opening match. He won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Henry draws the first blood
England made a steady start with the openers adding 40 runs. But it was Matt Henry who took the first wicket of the CWC 2023. He got the reward of bowling tight lines to Dawid Malan. Santner also took a very good-looking Jonny Bairstow.
Buttler and Root added 70 runs
At one stage, England were 118 for 4 in 21.2 overs. Captain Jos Buttler joined Joe Root at the crease and the pair added 70 runs for the 5th wicket. But that was the only big partnership in the inning. Adil Rashid and Mark Wood added 30 runs helping England to go past 280.
Matt Henry was the pick of the bowler in the inning. He took 3 wickets and gave only 48 runs in his 10 overs. M Santner and G Philips also took 2 wickets each. Trent Boult and Rachin Ravindra also manage to take one wicket each.
New Zealand gets home comfortably in the end
When New Zealand came out to chase the target, they lost Will Young in the 2nd over. But that was the only wicket England got in the whole inning.
New Zealand did what we were expecting from England. They played attacking cricket throughout the run chase. NZ added 81 runs in the first powerplay.
Rachin-Conway show in the CWC 2023 opener
Both the left-handers were outstanding and went on to score big hundreds. The pair attack all the bowlers of England, whether it’s a spinner or a pacer. Both the batters played some classy shots throughout the inning and showed temperament as they finished the game in the end as well.
The pair added an unbeaten 273 runs after they lost the first wicket early. Devon Conway scored an unbeaten 152 runs off 121 balls with 19 fours and 3 sixes. Rachin Ravindra scored 123 runs off 96 balls with 11 fours and 5 sixes.
New Zealand’s NRR will help them later in the tournament
The way New Zealand has won this game will give them a huge confidence going in the CWC 2023. And the margin of a win will definitely boost NZ’s net run rate (NRR). If in case New Zealand is tied with the points with another team at the back end of the tournament, the NRR will play a crucial role.
Talking points of the match:-
There are a few talking points from the CWC 2023 opener. Let’s see one by one.
New Zealand did it without some of their key players
New Zealand missed the services of some of their key players like captain Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, and Lockie Ferguson.
Southee and Williamson didn’t recover on time to be match fit. And Ferguson got the last-minute niggle. Despite that, New Zealand has done a fabulous job of winning the first game against a tough team like England in the CWC 2023.
England’s approach didn’t work out
We know England plays an aggressive brand of cricket in all formats of the game now. But not every time you will get successful with your approach. England will look into it and try to come out better when they face Bangladesh in their 2nd game on October 10 at Dharamsala.
Some records and stats after the CWC 2023 opener
All batters reached double figures in an ODI inning
A unique record was made during the first inning of the New Zealand vs England game at the CWC 2023. In the first inning, all 11 batters reached double figures in an inning. This is the first time that all the 11 batters reached double figures in an ODI inning.
4th highest partnership in the WC history
The partnership of an unbeaten 273 runs between Conway and Rachin was the 4th highest partnership for any wicket in WC history.
Conway becomes the fastest to score 1000 runs for New Zealand
In this game, Conway completed 1000 ODI runs for New Zealand. He reached the milestone in just 22 innings, which is the fastest for NZ in ODIs.
Ravindra becomes the 3rd youngest to score a hundred in a WC debut
Rachin Ravindra becomes the 3rd youngest batter after Virat Kohli and Andy Flower to score a hundred in an ODI WC debut. Also, Conway becomes the oldest batter to score a hundred in WC debut after Jeremy Bray.
Conclusion
So this is it from this article. New Zealand won the Cricket World Cup 2023 opening match by 9 wickets. Now, Pakistan will play the Netherlands in Hyderabad tomorrow. Let’s see if the Netherlands can challenge Pakistan or not.
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FAQ’s
1. Who is Rachin Ravindra?
Rachin Ravindra is a New Zealand International Cricketer; his talent was recognized at a very young age as he played for New Zealand’s Under-19 side.
Rachin Ravindra becomes the 3rd youngest cricketer to score a hundred in a Cricket World Cup debut.
2. How to watch Cricket World Cup 2023 Live on mobile?
As the official streaming partner for the ICC World Cup 2023, Disney+Hotstar will stream the matches. You must install the app to watch Cricket World Cup live.
