If New Zealand were not counted as favorites coming
into the World Cup, they might as well be considered as one now. In what was supposed
to be a competitive opening fixture, New Zealand ran away with the contest, pummeling
England by 9 wickets with more than 13 overs to spare. A 273-run stand by Devon
Conway and Rachin Ravindra punctuated a stellar performance by the Black Caps
in all areas, comprehensively outplaying England in each department despite
missing the services of Time Southee, Lockie Ferguson and Kane Williamson.
We now take a deep dive and look at the key reasons
why New Zealand won this game, and won it so easily.
Latham’s excellent captaincy
Tom Latham has not had a lot of opportunities to go
ahead and showcase his leadership skills in recent times, but he did not miss
the opportunity to display fantastic game-reading ability in arguably the
biggest stage of World Cricket. He shuffled his bowlers excellently well and
never took the foot of the pedal. Whenever it felt like England were building a
partnership, he made inspired bowling changes, and those changes were rewarded
with almost instant breakthroughs. His field placement was also exemplary, with
stages in the game seeing England barely score runs as well.
Latham may take a backseat once Williamson is back in
the fold, but he has done enough in this game to put his hat in the ring for
that leader’s spot in a post-Kane Williamson era for the Kiwis.
Excellent bowling from Henry and Santner.
20 overs. 85 runs conceded, and 5 key wickets taken.
Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner were marvelous with the ball for the Kiwis
whenever they were called upon. Matt Henry was constantly probing the English
batsmen, and gave Dawid Malan a very hard time upfront with his constant
test-match length, making full use of the conditions in the early phase of the
game, before accounting for his wicket with a peach. He then came back in both
of his spells and snared the dangerous-looking Jos Buttler and Sam Curran
towards the death.
Mitch Santner has always been one of New Zealand’s key
bowlers, and today was another day where he showed why he’s so reliable. In his
10 overs, he did not concede a single boundary, something that no bowler has done
against England since Kuldeep Yadav, way back in 2018. He first accounted for
Jonny Bairstow by tempting him to go over the top at a time where he seemed to
be timing the ball beautifully, and then dismissed Woakes in the final over of
his spell.
Both of them dovetailed with effectiveness and
complimented each other nicely. This is going to serve as a happy problem for
the Kiwis, who will welcome Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee back soon.
Conway-Ravindra masterclass
It was like watching the master and his apprentice sauntering
along with a sense of aesthetic brilliance that comes by very rarely these
days. A partnership that started in the second over of the Kiwi run-chase and by
the time it was done, they broke several records, and English backs and morales
along the way.
There was no question about Conway’s class and finesse
in this format, and today only served to show how masterful he is in these
conditions. Not once did he feel overwhelmed or troubled by any of the bowlers,
dispatching them to all corners of the ground with utter disdain. Even Sam
Curran, who started off with 2 consecutive maidens, was nothing but an
afterthought when he smashed him for 20 in the 35th over.
However, it was the performance of the young Rachin
Ravindra that captured the imagination of many. Playing in his first World Cup
(same as Conway), the young leftie wasted no time in taking the attack to the
English bowlers. He cut, drove, pulled, flicked, and glanced to his heart’s
content, and went on to not only get his maiden ton, but also become the fastest
centurion for New Zealand in World Cup history.
New Zealand have made a statement. They find another gear
in ICC tournaments. Write them off at your own peril.