World Cup 2023: New Zealand crush England by nine wickets in opening match

AHMEDABAD – Fiery knocks from Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra powered New Zealand bag thumping win of nine wickets over England in opening match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at Ahmedabad stadium on Thursday. 

Opening batsman Conway played a heroic inning of 152* while Ravindra made unbeaten 123 off 96 to crush England. 

England had set a target of 283 runs for New Zealand in the opening match. Joe Root and Jos Buttler smashed 77 and 43, helping team to build a reasonable total after opening pair – Jonny Balrstow and Dawid Malan – failed to took a strong start. 

Matt Henry dismissed three English batter while Santer and Phillips took two wickets each, restricting opponents from building a tough total.

Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first against England.

The action-packed flagship cricket event ICC Cricket Men's World Cup 2023 kick-started today where 10 teams will be vying for the CWC 23 trophy and a massive cash prize.

From October 5, 2023, a total of 48 matches will be played and the action will continue till November 19 across 10 venues in India. The much-awaited event will start where it left off four years back when England and New Zealand locked horns at India’s biggest cricket stadium.

England is facing Kiwis after victory over Bangladesh in a warm-up game as the first match against Men in Blue was washed out after day-long showers.

New Zealand, on the other hand, come to the main event with injury concerns as skipper Kane Williamson is likely to miss today’s game as a protective measure.

Despite the injury concerns, New Zealand players are in form as the squad bagged both practice games and are looking to advance momentum against England to clinch their first WC title.

England vs New Zealand Squads

England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(wk/c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Harry Brook, Gus Atkinson, Reece Topley, David Willey

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Tom Latham(wk/c), Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson (injured)