‘2019 ka inteqam liya hai’ – Fans praise New Zealand as they thrash England by nine wickets in ODI WC 2023 opener

In the opening game of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023, England and New Zealand locked horns in Ahmedabad. Early in the day, the two-time finalists, Blackcaps won the toss and elected to bowl first. Notably, the Three Lions also wanted to do the same. Meanwhile, the defending champions had a decent start with Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow putting up 40 runs for the first wicket.

In the eighth over, Matt Henry took the wicket of Malan as the latter was caught behind by Tom Latham, who was leading the team for the game. Kane Williamson isn’t said to be ready to play a game yet. On the other hand, Ben Stokes didn’t play the game due to niggle, possibly because of his knee problems in the last few months.

Meanwhile, the Blue Brigade stitched partnerships but wasn’t taking the game further. Despite getting hit for runs, the Blackcaps kept taking wickets for themselves on a barren track that didn’t have much for the bowlers. Only Joe Root (77) managed to get a half-century. On the other hand, the likes of Jonny Bairstow (33), Harry Brook (25), and skipper Jos Buttler (43) threw away their starts.

In the end, the European side was restricted to 282/9. Matt Henry took three wickets while Glenn Philips and Mitchell Santner took two each. Apart from this, Trent Boult and Rachin Ravindra took one each.

New Zealand eats England alive in ODI WC 2023 opener

The Kiwis had a poor start as Will Young (0) was caught down the leg side in the second over. However, this was the only wicket England managed to take. The likes of Ravindra and Devon Conway put together an unbeaten partnership of 273 runs in just 35.1 overs.

Both players scored their maiden ODI WC hundreds. Conway scored 151 off 121 balls including 19 fours and three sixes. On the other hand, 123 was scored by Ravindra off 96 balls including 11 fours and five sixes. In the end, the team won the game by nine wickets and 13.4 overs left in the game.

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