ODI World Cup 2023: England vs New Zealand, 5th ODI - Who Said What?

England's bowlers had no plans prepared for Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra as the duo built a 282-run partnership to help New Zealand win the match by nine wickets. Notably, batting first, England started well but soon their ecstasy turned into agony as wickets fell one after the other. They tried to play an aggressive brand of cricket but the Kiwis were prepared for it as they restricted the Jos Buttler-led side to 282 runs.

Joe Root was the lone warrior with the bat from the England side. The former England skipper has scored 77 runs and that played a major role in helping England reach a decent total. Skipper Jos Buttler supported him well in the middle, but once Matt Henry sent him back to the pavilion, the complexion of the match changed. Matt Henry eventually ended up picking three wickets, while Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips picked up two each.

When it came to the chase, New Zealand lost the wicket of Will Young rather cheaply but Conway’s 152* runs and Ravindra’s 123* runs completely forced England out of the game and with that, New Zealand picked up their first win in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. On the other hand, the defending champions start with a defeat and that’s a bit concerning at the moment as their bowlers looked awful in Ahmedabad.

Talking Points of the match:

Rachin Ravindra: The Starboy

Despite being under pressure after losing the wicket of Tom Latham, Rachin played an incredible knock of 123* runs, which helped the Kiwis get over the line. He played an aggressive brand of cricket, which put the pressure back on the Three Lions, eventually helping his team to win by nine wickets.

Consistent Conway

Devon Conway hit 152* runs in a chase which could have proven to be tricky. England had plenty of bowling options and they tried those as well, but nothing really worked as Conway proved to be a force to reckon with. With that, New Zealand picked up a comfortable win.

What was that, England?

Be it with the bat or with the ball, England had a very poor outing. With the ball, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes leaked a lot of runs in the initial phase while neither of the batters could build a partnership with Root and got out while going for glory. There are multiple things that England need to think about ahead of their second match.

Losing skipper Jos Buttler said:

Disappointing day, outplayed by New Zealand, tough to take that defeat. One loss, still a long tournament. Lot of guys in our team have played a lot of cricket. We have beaten teams this way before and we have been beaten like this before as well. Tough to build any pressure with the start they got. We lacked being clinical with our executions. Right shots weren't quite executed. We will keep it positive, can't be too defensive but we weren't clinical in shot selection and execution. Margin for error was very less on that pitch. The two guys played exceptionally well, fantastic partnership we were well beaten. Skidded on even better under lights, that's why we wanted to bowl as well. I thought he is back to his old self. Don't think there is any question about Joe. He's a run-maker in any format he plays. We will wait and see. He is working hard with the physio.

Winning Skipper Tom Latham said:

It's a fantastic performance. Fantastic partnership. Fantastic effort with the ball to restrict them to 280 which is below par. Pretty good build-up. We have played in these conditions in the last year or so. Likes of two seamers did a fantastic job. We got wickets at crucial times, to restrict them to 280 odd from the situation they were in was fantastic. The shots they played was fantastic, certainly wasn't the plan when they went out. Both must have felt really good when they played shots.

POTM Rachin Ravindra said:

Great to have a great day. Boys bowled and fielded well to restrict them to 280. Luckily I had Devon out there to show me how to do it. (I am) Very very close with Devon. Special to finish it off with him. 4-5 years ago, we all knew Devon would become the player he is. Above all he's a great guy. It was yesterday (because of) the thing (niggle) with Lockie (when did he know he'll bat at three?). Good to get the opportunity. We'll see what happens. I'm actually quite a good sleeper luckily. There was some swing, but the surface was really good to bat on.