Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra put up a 282-run partnership to enable New Zealand win the match by nine wickets, and England’s bowlers were not ready for them. Notably, when batting first, England got off to a good start, but their joy soon changed to pain as wickets kept falling one after the other. They tried to play a more aggressive style of cricket, but the New Zealanders were ready for it.
From the England team, Joe Root was the lone batsman. With 77 runs, the former England captain significantly contributed to England’s respectable total. He had strong middle support from captain Jos Buttler, but the match’s tone changed when Matt Henry sent him back to the pavilion. In the end, Matt Henry took three wickets, while Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips both took two.
Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra crush England
Conway’s 152* runs and Ravindra’s 123* runs absolutely knocked England out of the game, and with that, New Zealand secured their first victory in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. When it came to the chase, New Zealand lost the wicket of Will Young pretty quickly. However, the defending champs’ loss is worrying at the time because their bowlers performed poorly in Ahmedabad.
Rachin played a magnificent performance of 123* runs despite being under duress after losing the wicket of Tom Latham, helping the Kiwis cross the finish line. His team eventually won by nine wickets thanks to his aggressive brand of cricket, which put England under more pressure.
Losing skipper Jos Buttler said:
“Disappointing day, outplayed by New Zealand, tough to take that defeat. One loss, still a long tournament. Lot of guys in our team have played a lot of cricket. We have beaten teams this way before and we have been beaten like this before as well. Tough to build any pressure with the start they got. We lacked being clinical with our executions. Right shots weren’t quite executed. England will keep it positive, can’t be too defensive but we weren’t clinical in shot selection and execution. Margin for error was very less on that pitch. The two guys played exceptionally well, fantastic partnership we were well beaten. Skidded on even better under lights, that’s why we wanted to bowl as well. I thought he is back to his old self. Don’t think there is any question about Joe. He’s a run-maker in any format he plays. We will wait and see. He is working hard with the physio“.
For more cricket updates, make sure to follow us on:
