ODI World Cup 2023: Records tumble in Ahmedabad as New Zealand crush England in opener

New Zealand opener Devon Conway slammed his career-best unbeaten 152 off 121 balls, while spin-bowling all-rounder Rachin Ravindra scored his maiden CWC hundred to guide the Kiwis to a stunning 9-wicket win over defending champions England in ODI World Cup 2023 opener.

Their 273-run unbeatenstand for the second wicket saw both tearingEngland’s bowling line-up with absolute prowess as New Zealand avenged their 2019 World Cup final loss in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Both left-handers took the English attack to the cleaners, hitting boundaries from ball one. While the new-ball bowlers looked clueless against the attacking batting pair, Mark Wood, with his express pace, couldn’t trouble them either, getting hit for sixes and fours in his first spell.

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With both batters finishing the job with around 13 overs left, they broke several records during this chase.

ALSO READ:World Cup 2023: New Zealand outplay reigning champions England, win by 9 wickets

While Conway became the fourth-highest run-getteron a World Cup debut, Rachin Ravindra became the youngest to cross the three-digit mark from the country at the age of 23 years, 321 days, surpassing Nathan Astle, who at 24 years, 152 days, scored a hundred against England in the opening game of 1996 World Cup in Ahmedabad.

Conway, a startling find for New Zealand across formats, has incredible numbers to show off in his World Cup debuts in ODIs (152*), Test – World Test Championship (223 runs across both innings) and T20I World Cup – 92*.

It is also the first instance in New Zealand’s World Cup cricket history that two players have scored tons in an innings in this competition. This 273-run stand for the second wicket is the first time a Kiwi pair has shared a 200+ partnership for any wicket in the World Cup.

Besides, this stand is fourth on the list of highest partnerships for any wicket in Cricket World Cup history.

Rachin lauds stunning stand with Conway

On the day when New Zealand overpowered the world champions like none before, the Player of the Match, Rachin Ravindra, acknowledged the chance he got and what he did with that, saying it was special to finish the game with his close pal Conway.

“Sometimes it's unbelievable at times, but great to have a great day out. The bowlers bowled well and lucky enough to have Devon out there. I spent a lot of time with Dev and we are very, very close mates. I was little more comfortable and I have a lot of chat with Dev - being able to do that in the middle is cool,” Rachin told media following the World Cup opener.

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