The 2023 ICC ODI World Cup is well underway from today as last year’s finalists, England and New Zealand locked horns.
Moreover, things kicked off in style today at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium where the Blackcaps won the toss and decided to field first.
For New Zealand, Tom Latham is the skipper in place of Kane Williamson who is still struggling with his knee problem.
Meanwhile, England sent the opening pair of Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan to face the new ball.
Bairstow was up against Trent Boult whose first ball he defended quite elegantly. However, he was not content with doing just that.
He decided to take Boult to the cleaners and he did exactly that by hitting a six to Boult.
But, in 2019, things were quite different as Bairstow was dismissed by Imran Tahir on the second ball.
Already having hit a six to Boult, Bairstow then hit him for a four which was straight down the ground.
On the other hand, Dawid Malan also failed to capitalize on the good start that he made.
Similarly, Harry Brook and Moeen Ali also fell pretty early after scoring some superb boundaries for their team.
England found themselves tottering at 118/4 in just 21.2 overs and needed a big score against New Zealand.
Joe Root shines with his fifty and gets good support from Buttler
But, Joe Root was quite on song today as he made another half-century for himself and scored 77 runs.
He was well supported by skipper Jos Buttler who made 43 from 42 balls and both of them stitched together a partnership of 70 runs for the 5th wicket.
Afterward, small contributions from Adil Rashid and Mark Wood ensured that the Three Lions reached 282/9.
New Zealand is now chasing down a target of 283 runs and is looking quite comfortable at the moment.
For New Zealand, Matt Henry was the pick of the bowlers as he took 3/48 from his 10 overs.
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