The ODI World Cup 2023 started yesterday with absolute domination from New Zealand. They were desperate to avenge last edition’s final against England, which the Kiwis lost in a dramatic fashion. Stand-in Kiwi captain Tom Latham won the toss and elected to field first. New Zealand restricted England to 282 and the chase was as easy as it could get for the Kiwis. The Blackcaps registered a statement win to start their campaign on a high. Let’s take a look at the top 3 talking points from the England vs. New Zealand opener.
#3. New Zealand’s excellent bowling in the absence of key players
The Kiwis, after winning the toss, invited England to bat first. Even without a few key players in the bowling unit, New Zealand did something that England wouldn’t have anticipated. After the first half of England’s innings, New Zealand were all over them. The likes of Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodi, and Tim Southee were missing in action but the Kiwi bowlers stepped up and troubled the England batsmen big time. Glenn Philips filled the void of Ish Sodhi with his handy spin bowling. Philips bowled only three overs but he did his job by picking up two crucial wickets of Joe Root and Moeen Ali. The pick of the bowlers was Matt Henry, who had three scalps to his name. New Zealand will garner great confidence from this performance as they completely outclassed England with their bowling.
#2. Rachin Ravindra taking responsibility in the top-order
One player who has found a place on every discussion table right from the warm-up games is Rachin Ravindra. The 23-year-old left-handed batsman from Wellington set the stage on fire with his swashbuckling display and that too without taking much risk. The Indian-origin player took the England bowling attack by surprise. New Zealand lost an early wicket in Will Young who got out on the very first ball of his innings. But Rachin Ravindra, along with Devon Conway, did not give any sniff to England bowlers. Ravindra scored 123 with an impressive strike rate of 128.12. The young left-hander did not try to do anything extraordinary but played conventional shots with utmost conviction and focused on the timing. This helped him put the England bowlers under pressure. His performance going ahead will be very important as he is a great prospect for the Kiwi batting lineup.
#1. England being harmed by their own style
Since Eoin Morgan assumed the captaincy of England’s limited overs format, one thing that he emphasized was their “new approach”. He wanted his team to go out on the pitch and give their everything with a fearless attitude. After Morgan bid adieu to international cricket, we saw his philosophy being carried on by his successor Jos Buttler. This philosophy was implemented in Test cricket as well, with captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum giving much significance to a proactive style. This approach gave the England team a lot of applause from every corner of the cricket fraternity.
However, this stamp of aggressive cricket seems to be getting the better of them. The England team lost out on seizing important moments in the Ashes as well just because of their adamant nature to stick with their uselessly fearless style of play. Yesterday as well, the English made similar mistakes. Some rash shots when they were not needed proved to be too expensive for them. Senior batsmen did not take the responsibility to progress the innings and take the side to a huge total. England will have to rethink as their approach might not give them results in Indian conditions.