ICC World Cup: Kiwis off to a flier

The defending champions. The Renaissance men of cricket. The face of a England’s vim and vigour. A squadron so strong it inspired conversations of having the wherewithal to dominate the Australians of the 90s did…     

England are all this and more, and perhaps they will eventually show up with the chutzpah which won them their maiden World Cup in 2019, but on Thursday, they were rag-dolled by a set of innocuous-looking Kiwis at a venue which betrayed the sentiment of an event of magnitude.

In what then seemed like just another game of cricket between two international sides of equal calibre, New Zealand cantered to a nine-wicket victory in the World Cup opener at the Narendra Modi stadium to let those in wait know that they should be taken as seriously as ever. 

It was not guaranteed that they could be after entering the contest without Kane Williamson and Tim Southee, but they showed up with the kind of steel which separates winners from those still basking in the warmth of days gone by. 

England, with one of the oldest squads in the tournament, were given a reality check courtesy of an unconquered Devon Conway (152 from 121 balls) and an unbeaten Rachin Ravindra (123 from 96 balls) as the duo added 273 runs for the second wicket to carry New Zealand to 283 for one in 36.2 overs in response to England’s 282 for nine.  

The belligerent brilliance of the two southpaws was only separated by the fact that the two are very different batters. Conway relies rather heavily on the leg-side, while Ravindra is textbook with his batting, thereby leaning more to the off-side. That, however, did not stop the Indian-origin batter from pulling and heaving when the ball was there for those strokes. 

Totally dominant

At a point, it seemed like England had not had a video session to study the weaknesses of the two batters who were mercilessly stretching them sideways. In fact, by the time New Zealand got to the century mark, in 12.1 overs no less, it was plenty evident that the game was out of England’s hand. 

The only thing Ben Stokes, who was rested for the game due to a hip niggle, could do was bury his head in his hands in the dugout. 

Positives aside, New Zealand will be very aware of their failings on the day. After all, they are not the type to hinge their future on the success of one day. 

Their spin bowling, especially, would have triggered many a domestic side in India to guffaw. And still, the three of them - Mitchell Santner, Ravindra and Glenn Philips - bowled out 23 overs between them and ended with a combined five wickets at under six runs an over. 

England had no excuse to not dominate New Zealand’s spinners even if they thought against going after Santner. 

That is why when Joe Root (77) and Jos Buttler took them on, there was hope for a typically English total of over 300. Instead, they were coughing dust by 250 in the face of spinners to whom tossing the ball on the right length was an alien concept. 

All they did was fire it in and hope the batters would lose patience. For some inexplicable reason, it worked, and that too on a pitch which barely offered turn.

Despite this concern, Kiwis showed why they are one of the most consistent sides in the world, and have been for some time now. 

It is a shame then that fewer than 30,000 people got to witness the humbling of the world champions and the rise of the perennial underdogs. 

Rachin Ravindra is all joy after reaching his century against England. PTI 

SCORE BOARD

ENGLAND

Bairstow c Mitchell b Santer 33 Malan c Latham b Henry 14 Root b Phillips 77 Brook c Conway b Ravindra 25 Ali b Phillips 11 Buttler c Latham b Henry 43 Livingstone c Henry b Boult 20 Curran c Latham b Henry 14 Woakes c Young b Santner 11 Rashid (not out) 15 Wood (not out) 13 Extras (W-6) 6 TOTAL (for 9 wkts 50 overs) 282 Fall of wickets: 1-40 2-64 3-94 4-118 5-188 6-221 7-229 8-250 9-252. Bowling: Boult 10-1-48-1 Henry 10-1-48-3 Santer 10-0-37-2 Neesham 7-0-56-0 Ravindra 10-0-76-1 Phillips 3-0-17-2.

NEW ZEALAND

Conway (not out) 152 Young c Buttler b Curran 0 Ravindra (not out) 123 Extras (B-4 LB-1 W-3) 8 TOTAL (for 1 wkt 36.2 overs) 283 Fall of wicket: 1-10. Bowling: Woakes 6-0-45-0 Curran 6-2-47-1 Wood 5-0-55-0 Ali 9.2-0-60-0 Rashid 7-0-47-0 Livingstone 3-0-24-0. Result: NZ won by 9 wickets. PoM: Rachin Ravindra