Centurions Ravindra, Conway produce New Zealand's version of 'Bazball' to stun champions England

Ahmedabad: Unbeaten centurions Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra produced their own version of bruising ‘Bazball’ as New Zealand hammered defending champions England by nine wickets in the World Cup opener here on Thursday.

After England posted a below par 282 for 9 largely due to Joe Root’s pragmatic 77, New Zealand romped to 283 for 1 in just 36.2 overs, courtesy buccaneering hundreds by Conway (152 off 121 balls) and Ravindra (123 off 96 balls).

While New Zealand, who regularly punch above their weight in the ICC events, put the rest of the teams on notice with that brutal onslaught, England will have to do more than one boardroom session to regain some confidence.

Kiwis would thank Conway and Ravindra for that, who creamed a record-breaking 273 off 211 balls during their stunning unbroken second wicket alliance.

For the record, this was the fourth highest stand for any wicket in the World Cup.

The 23-year-old Ravindra, who became the third youngest batter to score a hundred on World Cup debut, and Conway produced a masterclass of cricketing shots all around to ground to leave England gasping for breath.

To drive in a bit of perspective to Ravindra’s innings, he stands behind Virat Kohli (22 years) and Andy Flower (23 years, 301 days) in that list of young century makers.

The trophy holders simply could not muster any response to the assault by the Kiwis pair which began as early as in the second over.

Ravindra brought up his maiden century in his 13th ODI and first in the World Cup, whereas Conway’s ton was his fifth in the format, first in the World Cup and second against England.

Having batted only once at the No. 3 position in his fledgling career, Ravindra matched Conway in strokes all around the ground, displaying the authority of a top-drawer player.

Ravindra’s outstanding 123 (11x4s, 5x6s) may as well have given New Zealand a happy headache since his runs came at the position usually occupied by regular captain Kane Williamson, who is recuperating from his surgery.

Having amassed 672 runs for IPL 2023 winners Chennai Super Kings, Conway went about his job as if the field here was like his backyard.

The Black Caps opener generally preferred to score his runs through the floor, and he played just two aerial shots during the duration of his innings, which gave a semblance of hope to England to make another breakthrough.

England might have hoped for a better outcome when left-arm pacer Sam Curran (1/47) had Kiwi opener Will Young caught down the leg for a first-ball duck in the second over.

But after that early success, what transpired was completely demoralising for England, as Ravindra and Conway maintained a strike rate of 125 without a fuss.

Of course, the pitch eased up a bit more, compared to the gripper that it was during the England innings.

Neither Adil Rashid’s leg-spin nor Mark Wood’s express pace — who was hit for 38 runs in his first three overs — could come to England’s rescue.

Earlier, New Zealand made regular inroads to keep England's long batting line-up in check and restrict the defending champions to a moderate 282 for nine.

New Zealand spinners exploited the hot and humid conditions in the afternoon perfectly to be on top against England's free-flowing and aggressive batting approach, while producing a collective bowling performance.

With his part-time spin, Glenn Phillips delivered an unexpected but successful spell of 3-0-17-2 accounting for Joe Root (77) and Moeen Ali (11).

Mitchell Santner's 2 for 37 and pacer Matt Henry's 3 for 48 were the other key performances that helped New Zealand keep England under 300 on a surface that offered a good amount of turn and grip in the first session.

The first runs of the 2023 World Cup came off a six when Jonny Bairstow (33 off 35 balls, 4x4s, 1x6s) cleared the backward square ropes with a flick off the pads on the second ball of the tournament from Trent Boult.

A boundary followed soon as England collected 12 runs off the first over to make their intentions clear, but soon the New Zealand bowlers applied breaks on the Three Lions’ innings from which they never really recovered.