The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 finally got underway on October 05 as England and New Zealand locked horns in the opening encounter at the Narendra Modis Stadium in Ahmedabad. New Zealand skipper Tom Latham won the first toss of the tournament and invited England to bat first. England openers Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan walked out to the middle to start the tournament.
Bairstow faced the first over by Trent Boult and defended the very first ball of the tournament as well. However, the England opener, in a bid to make a statement from his side as the defending champions, flicked Boult for a six over deep square leg on just the second ball of the over. It was a contrasting result for Bairstow, who got dismissed on the second ball of the ODI World Cup 2019 against Imran Tahir.
Watch the sensational start to the ODI World Cup 2023 here:
The 34-year-old further got another boundary on the fifth ball of the over as he drove Boult for a four straight down the ground. However, Bairstow couldn’t build on his good start and got dismissed after scoring 33 (35) clobbering four fours and a six in his innings.
His opening partner Dawid Malan (14 off 24) couldn’t himself going and became the first wicket to fall in the tournament edging a delivery from Matt Henry to wicketkeeper Tom Latham. Harry Brook (25 off 16) and Moeen Ali (11 off 17) also failed to notch up a big score as England were left reeling at 118/4 after 21.2 overs.
Joe Root scores first fifty of World Cup 2023
However, Joe Root held one end and played a magnificent innings of 77 (86) smashing four fours and a six. He got good support from Jos Buttler (43 off 42) as the duo added 70 runs for the fifth wicket off 72 balls. Late Cameos from Adil Rashid (15 off 13) and Mark Wood (13 off 14) took England’s score to 282/9 in their allotted 50 overs. Matt Henry was the pick of the bowlers for Kiwis with figures of 3/48 in ten overs.
Check more highlights from the match here: