The 13th edition of ICC Men's Cricket World Cup commenced at Ahmedabad on Thursday with a contest between England and New Zealand.
A brilliant 3/48 from Matt Henry and meaningful contributions from Mitchell Santner (2/37) and Glenn Phillips (2/17) helped New Zealand keep England's scoring rate in check during the opening encounter of the Cricket World Cup.
Match 1: England 282/9 (50 overs) vs New Zealand
The arrival of Jos Buttler in the 22nd over lifted the scoring rate. The England skipper took some time to get his eye in, and then went after the bowlers. His first boundary came against Rachin Ravindra, whom he carted over the rope in the 27th over. Thereafter, he kept his foot on the pedal and smashed two fours and two sixes in his innings. It seemed like the game was running away from New Zealand, but then Henry returned to get Buttler caught behind for 43.
England kept up their attacking strategy, even as Joe Root and Liam Livingstone tried to go for their runs. However, incisive bowling from the Black Cap bowlers ensured that the batting side never ran away with the game. So Livingstone fell to Boult in the 39th over and Root was cleaned up by the golden arm of Glenn Phillips, when he misplayed a reverse sweep in the 42nd over.
Despite regular breakthroughs from New Zealand bowlers in the final powerplay, England managed to reach 282 at the back of an unbeaten 30-run 10th wicket partnership between Adil Rashid and Mark Wood.
When England walked out to bat Jonny Bairstow began their title defence in style, hitting a six off the very second ball of the game. He lifted a wayward Trent Boult delivery, that drifted down the legside, into the stands. He unleashed an attacking range of shots to keep England closer to run a ball. His partner Dawid Malan, however, found the going tough against the Kiwi pacers. Malan eventually nicked one behind off Henry in the eighth over.
Trying to keep up the scoring rate, the England batters kept going for their shots. This included an unconventional reverse scoop from Joe Root, which went behind the keeper's head for a six. However, New Zealand managed to get a hold of things in the second powerplay. Bairstow (33) fell to Santner in the 13th over. On the other hand, Harry Brook (25) went for one shot too many in Rachin Ravindra's first over, and gifted a catch in the deep midwicket region after having hit 4, 4, 6 off the last three deliveries.
England's scoring rate was further stifled after they lost Moeen Ali to the off-spin of Glenn Phillips.
In the afternoon, New Zealand's stand-in skipper Tom Latham called it right at the toss and decided to field in Ahmedabad.
The big news for the Black Caps was the absence of their two key players, regular captain Kane Williamson and pacer Tim Southee.
England had concerns of their own, as star all-rounder Ben Stokes, was out of the opening encounter as well. The all-rounder had reversed his decision to retire from the ODI game only recently.
The World Cup opener will be a rematch between the two finalists from the 2019 Cricket World Cup. England managed to edge out New Zealand by the barest of margins on that occasions to lift the trophy.
Playing XIs:
England:
Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c) (wk), Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
New Zealand:
Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (c) (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Trent Boult
Source: ICC
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