The 2023 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup got officially underway with England taking on New Zealand. Sachin Tendulkar, World Cup ambassador, brought out the coveted trophy ahead of the opener.
New Zealand won the toss and chose to field. England revealed they would have preferred to do the same. Both sides had injured absentees
Kane Williamson predictably missed out for the first game but the bigger misses for the Black Caps were Lockie Ferguson and Ish Sodhi. New Zealand went in without Tim Southee too, severely depleting its bowling arsenal.
England went into the opener without the services of Ben Stokes who has a hip issue.
The Narendra Modi Stadium wore a deserted look for the World Cup opener, with barely any fanfare in the city at large as well.
Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan got England off to a sprightly start with the opening bowlers struggling to find control early on. Skipper Latham was forced to bring on Santner early to slow the pace of the game down
Matt Henry eventually got New Zealand its first breakthrough with Malan edging a catch to Latham behind the stumps who had to lunge a bit to his left. Joe Root then joined Bairstow. ENG 40/1 (7.4 ov)
Root’s signature reverse scoop was on display as he kept the momentum of the English innings up
Introducing Santner paid off for Latham and Co. as he snuffed out Bairstow. The England opener holed out to Daryl Mitchell in the deep. Harry Brook joined Root. ENG 64/2 (12.5 ov)
Rachin Ravindra gave New Zealand another breakthrough soon after, with Harry Brook falling for 25. England decided to promote Moeen Ali up the order to counter the spin strategy NZ was falling back on. ENG 94/3 (16..6 ov)
Glenn Phillips followed that up with a wicket off his very first over, taking out Ali with a ball straight to the stumps. ENG 118/4 (21.2 ov)
Onus fell on Buttler and Root to steady the England innings. New Zealand’s limited bowling attack tried to switch things up but the pair stayed strong at the crease to see out the initial jitters of the partnership.
Root scored the first half century of the 2023 ODI World Cup, getting to the mark in 57 balls.
Latham then reintroduced Matt Henry, who has had to shoulder pace responsibilities in the absence of his injured teammates. Henry struck with his Test match lengths and wobble seam, getting rid of Buttler. ENG 188/5 (33.2 ov)
Trent Boult, who wasn’t able to find breakthroughs with the new ball earlier in the day, got a piece of the action when he removed Liam Livingstone. Tight bowling from the Kiwis denied the holders a chance to open their arms and score, The pressure was their undoing. ENG 221/6 (38.5 ov)
Philips then took out the dangerous Root on his return to the attack. Latham’s bowling changes paid rich dividends in Ahmedabad. ENG 229/7 (41.1 ov)
Santner tempted Woakes with elevation he gets on the ball and drew out an edge which ultimately found the safe hands of Will Young at point. ENG 250/8 (44.6 ov)
Henry got his third wicket when Sam Curran, in attempting an upper cut, knicked the ball to Latham behind the stumps. New Zealand was a wicket short of closing out the England innings. ENG 252/9 (45.4 ov)
Adil Rashid and Mark Wood then stitched an 30-run stand for the last wicket, denying New Zealand the joy of bowling out their opponent. England finished at 282/9 in 50 overs.
England drew first blood, dismissing Will Young for a duck, but that turned out to be their sole source of joy in their fielding effort.
Rachin Ravindra was a tad expensive with the ball but more than made up for it with the bat. Along with Devon Conway, the pair gave England no opportunity to make inroads looking comfortable in the 283-run chase.
Devon Conway, who took control of the New Zealand chance from the word go, reached his century on World Cup debut off 83 balls. He eventually finished with 152* off 121 balls with 19 fours and three sixes to his name.
Rachin Ravindra soon followed, reaching his century on World Cup debut in 82 balls. Ravindra ably helped Conway keep the pressure on England and ultimately finished with an unbeaten 123 off 96 balls, featuring 11 fours and five sixes.
Conway and Ravindra recorded the highest partnership by a Kiwi pair in an ODI World Cup match during this fixture.
New Zealand didn’t want to leave too much for the end and did its Net Run Rate a huge deal of good by rushing towards victory and left England with a morale-denting and NRR-damaging defeat. The Kiwis romped home with 13.4 overs to spare.