Kiwis beat England by nine wickets in opening match

Ahmedabad: In the opening match of International Cricket Council (ICC) One Day International (ODI) World Cup 2023, New Zealand defeated the defending champions England by nine wickets after a one-sided contest due to the brilliant centuries by Dion Conway and Ravindra.

According to details, New Zealand easily achieved the target of 283 runs given by England in the 37th over at the loss of just one wicket.

Dion Conway scored 152 off 121 balls while young Richan Ravindra played an unbeaten innings of 123 off 96 balls.

In the opening match of the World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, New Zealand won the toss and decided to field against England.

England scored 282 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs, with Joe Root scoring 77 runs and Captain Jos Buttler scoring 43 runs.

Speaking on the occasion of the toss, Kiwi captain Tom Latham said that after the warm-up match, they have prepared well. Kesson Williamson is recovering and will play the next matches.

England's innings

In the opening match of the World Cup, England suffered its first loss in the form of opener David Mullan, who was sent to the pavilion by Matt Henry for 14 runs, then Jonny Bearstowe 33, Harry Brooke 25 and Moeen Ali were dismissed for 11 runs.

After the fall of four wickets, Joe Root and Captain Jos Buttler showed responsible batting. Joe Root played an innings of 77 runs while Buttler got out after scoring 43 runs.

Apart from this, Liam Livingston scored 20 runs, Sam Curran scored 14 runs and Chris Woakes scored 11 runs. In the final overs, a partnership of 30 runs was established between Adil Rashid and Mark Wood and thus England lost nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs and scored 282 runs.

Adil Rashid played an unbeaten innings of 15 and Mark Wood 13 runs.

New Zealand’s player Matt Henry dismissed three players while Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips took two wickets each.

New Zealand's innings

New Zealand's pursuit of England's target of 283 did not get off to a good start, with Will Young dismissed for a total of just 10.

After the fall of one wicket, Dion Conway and Richan Ravindra, who was playing a World Cup match for the first time, took the brunt of England's bowlers.

Both played brilliant strokes all around the ground, leaving the English bowlers helpless. Conway and Ravindra scored centuries and reached the target in the 37th over.

Dion Conway scored 152 runs, his innings included three sixes and 19 fours, while young Richan Ravindra played an unbeaten innings of 123 runs off 96 balls. Ravindra's innings included five sixes and 11 fours.

A magnificent partnership of 273 runs was established between the two.

England's Sam Curran picked up a wicket while New Zealand's Ravindra was awarded the Man of the Match award.

It is pertinent to note that Pakistan will play its first match of the World Cup today (today) against Netherlands.