Ahmedabad, (UNI) An unbeaten 273-run stand between Rachin Ravinbdra and Devon Conway for the second wicket nailed a stupendous victory over England in the ODI World Cup opener here on Thursday.
Sent into bat, England were restricted to 282/9, and in reply the Kiwis chased the target with 9 wickets in hand and 13.4 overs to spare.
Ravindra (123*) and Conway (152*) notched up unbeaten centuries after they made mincemeat of the English bowlers who looked clueless before the duo who mocked the boundaries.
Conway (19x4s 3x6s) and Ravindra (11x4s 5x6s) hammered 30 boundaries between them, and 8 sixes
Conway was flawless, especially coming into the match without getting big runs under his belt. His front and backfoot shots won the hearts of the spectators. Ravindra, on the other hand, grabbed the opportunity, coming into the side as a replacement for an injured Kane Williamson.
England tasted first blood by getting Will Young nicking one down the leg side off Sam Curran for a golden duck, but their joy was short-lived as the game quickly turned into an one-sided affair.
New Zealand plundered 81 runs in the powerplay in marvellous fashion. The introduction of spin also did not work for England as Ravindra unleashed terror tonking Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid to reach his maiden fifty in 36 balls.
Conway reached his landmark in the very next over, and by the 20th over New Zealand were on top of England as a win looked well within their sight earlier than expected.
Both the batsmen continued with their run riot, and in the process Conway hammered his first century of this World Cup and Ravindra after a few balls got his maiden ton.
After reaching the personal milestones, Conway cut loose and finished the job in the 37th over.
Earlier, New Zealand fought back in style by restricting England to 282/9 when they appeared to easily breach 300 following a fruitful partnership between Jos Buttler and Joe Root.
Jonny Bairstow started off in a gallant style by clipping the second ball for a maximum and then swatting it for a boundary the very next ball as England gathered 12 runs in the first over.
On the other hand, Dawid Malan was all over the place and ultimately was snapped up by edging Mat Henry to Tom Latham behind the stumps.
Joe Root surprised New Zealand with his reverse sweep very early in his innings for a six of Trent Boult, but Mitchell Santner sent back Bairstow while trying to clip one over extra cover.
Harry Brook who was drafted into the side in place of an injured Ben Stokes maintained the run rate for England. The youngster launched an attack on World Cup debutant Rachin Ravindra and clobbered a couple of boundaries and followed it up with a six over deep midwicket.
Brook however fell to Ravindra as he tried to go for too many shots, exposing the lack of experience the English batsman exhibited.
Promoting Moeen Ali before Jos Buttler did not materialise as Glenn Phillips disturbed Moeen’s timbers in his first over after the southpaw batsman scored 11 to dent further the English innings.
England at last got a shot in the arm as Buttler paired up with Root to refurbish England’s sliding fortunes. Root garnered just 8 runs in the first 15 balls he faced, while Buttler was flamboyant, smashing Ravindra for a straight six over his head and whacking James Neesham with the same venom.
At 187/4 in 33 overs, England were in a great position to get a big total under their belt, but Mat Henry turned the tables in New Zealand’s favour. He snapped up Buttler for 43 at third man.
Liam Livingstone was next to go caught at the deep off Boult. Phillips returned to rattle Root’s stumps, shattering the hopes of England to push on past 300-mark.
Sam Curran and Chris Woakes just could not steam up and succumbed, sending doubts over the long batting lineup of the English team.
Woakes and Curran fell to Santner and Henry, but Mark Wood and Adil Rashid managed to add 30 crucial runs off the last 26 balls to push the total beyond 280.
Brief scores: England 282/9 in 50 overs (Joe Root 77, Jos Buttler 43; Matt Henry 3/48, Glenn Phillips 2/17) lost to New Zealand 283/1 in 36.2 overs (Devon Conway 152*, Rachin Ravindra 123*) by 9 wickets.
