Ahmedabad (Cricinfo): Revenge for the final of the 2019 World Cup was never going to come in the first match of the 2023 edition. But a nine-wicket demolition of England in the Ahmedabad curtain-raiser will have provided New Zealand ample satisfaction. The defending champions have been battered, comprehensively, wearing what might end up being one of the most emphatic beatings of the tournament.
Pursuit of a target of 283 came with 82 balls to spare thanks to a brutal southpaw combination, with an unbeaten 152 from Devon Conway and an unbeaten 123 from Rachin Ravindra – ODI centuries number five and one, respectively.
The former broke Martin Guptill’s 88-ball record for the fastest 50-overs World Cup century, bringing his up in just 83, before Ravindra went one ball better to become the country’s youngest centurion in a global tournament at 23. Together, these two Wellington teammates now possess the Blackcaps’ highest partnership in the tournament’s history.
That their unbroken 273-run stand began at the start of the second over when Sam Curran snared Will Young down the leg side for a first-ball duck made it all the more remarkable. That was the last moment of jeopardy before Kiwi dominance prevailed, in the fastest chase of a 250-plus target in World Cup history. They even blitzed the boundary count 38 to 27.
The defending champions looked to have reached a competitive total at the halfway stage. Joe Root’s 77 stitched together a total of 282 for 9 after Tom Latham had won the toss and opted to bowl first. Yet it was a stuttering effort, thanks largely to Matt Henry’s 3 for 48 dovetailing with 2 for 37 from Mitchell Santner, whose 10 overs did not feature a single boundary. The last player to manage that against England was Kuldeep Yadav in July 2018.
Conway’s quality in this format is rubber-stamped, and this was his fourth century this year alone, the previous coming in a similarly one-sided affair against England in Cardiff at the start of September. For Ravindra, this was his first international hundred outright, in a first go in the top five. He had only previously passed fifty once.
His presence in the XI was as much on bowling balance as to give Kane Williamson a little longer to recover from a ruptured ACL sustained six months ago in the opening match of the IPL. It felt particularly neat that an expensive 10 overs with the ball, costing 76, was covered when he reached the same number of runs off 60 deliveries.
Conway put England on alert when driving the first ball of the chase through point off Chris Woakes. But Curran’s early strike, along with his two maidens from the get-go, suggested there was something to work with. By the 35th over, Curran was merely fodder for Conway’s whims, as he smashed the seamer for 20, starting with a six heaved over wide long-on before a brace of fours through despairing fielders. His 22nd and final boundary – a slapped four through square leg off Liam Livingstone in the next over – took him to 150 off 119.
Ravindra’s shotmaking was crisp from the off, notably when crunching a flat six over square leg from a Mark Wood delivery that registered 148kph, bringing up the team fifty in just 6.5 overs. Wood’s first over would go for 17 and his first three for 38. Just like that, one of Jos Buttler’s difference-makers was rendered obsolete. England calling upon Adil Rashid, the fifth bowler, after 12 overs, spoke of the need for a shift in fortunes, with the 100 up with a single taken off the legspinner’s first delivery. It never came.
Even the guest appearance of Ben Stokes during the first drinks break on 17 overs could not bring about a shift. The hero of Lord’s was only there to offer advice, missing out on selection with a hip issue. That he is at this tournament in a non-bowling capacity means he’d have hardly made a difference.
But even one of his miracles might have only reduced the margin of defeat. England’s efforts with the bat had various jumping-off points for a score greater than the 282 for 9 they managed from 50 overs. For the first time in an ODI innings, all 11 batters reached double figures, yet with just one fifty-plus stand – a 70 between Root and Buttler, ending with the latter’s failed attempt at guiding Henry down to third.
Henry’s first strike was to remove Dawid Malan, just reward for an outstanding opening spell. However, Jonny Bairstow at the other end was the opener causing more concern. The second ball of the match, from Trent Boult, was flicked beyond square leg for the first of England’s six sixes, with Bairstow accounting for 31 of the 50 accrued in the powerplay.
Bairstow’s demise at the end of the 13th over was the start of a series of speed traps laid down by New Zealand’s slower bowlers. Santner led that front, tempting Bairstow into going over the top of cover only to misdirect a lofted drive to Daryl Mitchell at long-off.
