The empty orange seats of Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad saw a very unexpected show from the New Zealand batters, as they claimed the victory by steamrolling one of the tournament favourites, England.

The 2019 World Cup finalists locked horns once again at the World Cup stage, only to produce a match that was completely opposite to their 2019 encounter.

England’s innings

Winning the toss, New Zealand chose to bowl first. Having put to bat, England had a steady start. However, losing frequent wickets meant that the reigning champions got no momentum, and they finished at a respectable, yet inadequate score of 282/9. If it wasn’t for an unbeaten 30-run partnership for the 10th wicket, the score would have been even less.

Brief scores:

Joe Root 77 (86), Jos Buttler 43 (42) with Matt Henry (10-1-48-3) and Glenn Phillips (3-0-17-2)

England 282/9 (50 overs)

New Zealand’s innings

Carrying their bowling form into their batting, and even getting a notch up, New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway cruised to their respective centuries, breaking multiple World Cup records in the process and frustrating a clueless England with each passing over.

Having lost Will Young in just the second over, Ravindra and Conway batted freely for their partnership of 273 runs. 

Brief scores:

Devon Conway 152 (121), Rachin Ravindra 123 (96) with Sam Curran (6-0-47-1)

New Zealand 283/1 (36.2 overs)

Headaches for both teams

Even with the resounding win, New Zealand still has some answers to seek. With Rachin Ravindra in such form, they will have to make some tough selection decisions when Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, and Lockie Furguson come back into the side.

New Zealand will now play the Netherlands on Oct 9 at Hyderabad.

For England, a lot of retrospection will be required indeed, and coming back from such a loss will take them some time. Next, they will take on Bangladesh on Oct 10 at Dharamshala.

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