The anticipation was of another riveting contest, just like the 2019 World Cup final at Lord’s where England had beaten New Zealand on boundary count.
But at the Motera in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, which wore a near-deserted look, Devon Conway (152 not out) and young Rachin Ravindra (123 not out) made the World Cup opener a one-sided affair helping New Zealand clobber England by nine wickets.
The twin centurions, unleashing a flurry of strokes on all sides of the ground with all of them being proper cricketing ones, helped New Zealand chase down a 283-run target in just 36.2 overs. That further underlines the authority they batted with.
Agreed, England were without Ben Stokes and missed his contribution with the bat. But bowling-wise, the defending champions had almost all their regular ODI bowlers with some of them playing key roles in their triumph four years ago. Yet, none of these bowlers had any answer to the commanding game of New Zealand’s left-handed duo.
Conway’s growth and progress, in any case, had made him a vital component of the Black Caps’ batting group. In regular captain Kane Williamson’s absence, his was the key wicket that England needed early following injudicious shot selection from some of their batsmen — including top-scorer Joe Root (77) — that limited them to 282/9 after being put in.
But what actually seemed to take England by surprise was the aggression and flamboyance of spinner all-rounder Ravindra who, en route to recording his maiden century, also became New Zealand’s youngest Cup centurion at 23.
New Zealand had lost their other opener, Will Young, with just 10 on the board in the second over of their run chase. But Ravindra, on the ball right from the onset, not just took on the England bowlers but didn’t spare even an inch of width that they offered.
Agreed, Ravindra struck more aerial shots compared to Conway, but there was hardly anything flashy in the youngster’s 96-ball knock that comprised 11 boundaries and five sixes.
Equally significant were the spells of pacer Matt Henry (3/48) and left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner (2/37), which dented the power-packed English batting line-up’s progress earlier.
