'Just too good to watch': Tim Paine on England's humiliating loss vs New Zealand in CWC '23 opener

In the opening game of CWC 2023 edition, in Ahmedabad, England faced New Zealand where the Kiwis thrashed the defending champions by nine wickets in pursuit of 283 on Thursday evening (October 5). Jos Buttler-led England were asked to bat first and the batting-heavy line-up only managed 282 for 9 in 50 overs which was later chased down by New Zealand with nine wickets and 82 balls to spare.

With the ball, England got an early wicket in the form of Will Young for 0 (1) before Rachin Ravindra (123*)-Devon Conway (unbeaten 152)'s 273-run second-wicket stand ended the game in a jiffy.

Speaking on SENQ Breakfast, Australia's former Test captain Tim Paine reacted to England's heavy defeat and stated that most Australian cricket fans would have enjoyed England getting 'smashed' like theydid. "They smashed them. I watched it. I wanted to have a bit of an early night last night, we got home from Allan Border field at about 10 o'clock and I thought, ‘I'll have a good sleep’, but it was just too good to watch. Watching England get smacked around the park. I stayed up for most of it and enjoyed it like I'm sure most Australian cricket fans did and hopefully it continues," Paine said.

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Paine also pointed out that dew had set in at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday evening, making it easy for New Zealand batters Rachin and Conway to go after Mark Wood -- England's pace spearhead.

"In India, that can be the issue. The faster you go over there, the harder it is to defend grounds. They're small grounds. They're very flat wickets. It looked like last night, it was sort of a bit dewy. So, it was sliding onto the bat, and he was bowling 150 km/h. It looked like if he didn't hit the stumps, it was just flying away for four whether they hit in the middle of the bat or not."

Wood ended with figures of 0 for 55 in five overs. For England, they will like to forget this match at the earliest as they next face Bangladesh in Dharamshala on Tuesday (October 10).

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