New Zealand Rout England As Cricket World Cup Suffers Empty Feeling

Umer Jamshaid Published October 06, 2023 | 12:10 AM

Ahmedabad, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2023) New Zealand handed defending champions England a nine-wicket thrashing at the cricket World Cup on Thursday at the start of a marathon tournament likely to dictate the event's status in the future of the sport.

Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra smashed centuries to power New Zealand to a crushing win over an England side stripped of injured talisman Ben Stokes.

After restricting England to 282-9, left-handers Conway (152) and Ravindra (123) put on an unbeaten stand of 273 for the second wicket as the Black Caps comfortably overhauled the target with 13.4 overs to spare.

The result was a contrast to the epic World Cup final at Lord's in 2019 between the two teams when England won a tied match on boundary count back.

"It's unbelievable and great to have a great day out," said Ravindra.

New Zealand, led by Tom Latham in the absence of regular skipper Kane Williamson, kept England down to a below-par total despite Joe Root's 77.

Conway hit the first ton of the tournament off 83 balls studded with 13 fours and two sixes and soon reached 1,000 runs in 23 ODI matches.

The 23-year-old Ravindra quickly followed with his maiden ODI century off 82 balls with nine fours and four sixes, raising his bat to acknowledge the smattering of fans inside the 132,000-capacity arena.