England are CRUSHED by New Zealand in opening game of World Cup defence as Jos Buttler’s side lose by nine wickets after dismal display in Ahmedabad

• England opened up their World Cup campaign against New Zealand on Thursday
• However, they put in a dreadful performance and were thrashed by nine wickets
• Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra hit hundreds for the Black Caps in their win 

England’s World Cup defence got off to the worst possible start as New Zealand hammered them by nine wickets on a sobering night in Ahmedabad. It was, to coin a phrase, the fairest of margins.

Jos Buttler had promised that ‘defence’ would not be part of his team’s dressing-room lexicon during the next seven weeks. But the nature of England’s defeat, completed with more than 13 overs to spare after a punishing partnership of 273 between Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, oozed meekness.

By the end, Conway, who finished with 151, and Ravindra, who made 123, were hitting the ball wherever they pleased.

The only English positive on an evening when New Zealand helped exorcise the ghosts of the 2019 final at Lord’s was a spritely 77 from Joe Root, who had entered this tournament short of runs.

But that was pretty well it. England’s next game, against Bangladesh on Tuesday, is in the Himalayan town of Dharamshala. And while this result has not yet left them with a mountain to climb if they are to reach the semi-finals, it has made the path ahead rockier than planned.

England’s World Cup defence got off to the worst possible start as New Zealand hammered them by nine wickets on a sobering night in Ahmedabad (pictured – captain Jos Buttler)

Rachin Ravindra (left) and Devon Conway (right) both hit superb hundreds for New Zealand 

 They put on an unbroken 273 run partnership and chased down the target after just 36.2 overs

Four years ago, they sneaked into the last four after losing three of their nine group matches. Out here, the likes of South Africa, India, Australia and Pakistan are still to come. And their net run-rate – cricket’s answer to football’s goal difference – is already in tatters.

Ben Stokes cannot return soon enough, though England are not yet confident he will recover from his hip injury in time to take on the Bangladeshis. It may help his stiff body that the team have arranged a charter straight to Dharamshala, cutting out the usual connecting flight via Delhi.

But it’s hard to imagine Stokes would have allowed the innings to meander as it did. If all 11 players reached double figures for the first time in an ODI innings, then few did so with conviction. On a good surface, a total of 282 for nine – which needed a last-wicket stand of 30 between Mark Wood and Adil Rashid – felt at least 40 shy of par.

Root wasn’t far off his perky best, reverse-ramping Trent Boult for six and threatening to build a decent total during a fifth-wicket stand of 70 with Buttler.

Few, though, could stay with him. Jonny Bairstow clubbed 33 before picking out long-off, and Harry Brook – on his 50-over World Cup debut – pulled successive balls from Ravindra’s left-arm spin for four, four and six, only to offer a catch to the man in the deep aiming for another six from the next delivery.

If his demise was at least in keeping with Buttler’s pre-match call for attack, then the captain’s own dismissal – nibbling at Matt Henry after a well-made 43 – felt unusually tentative.

As the innings fell away to a combination of Henry and the canny left-arm spin of Mitchell Santner, England resembled not so much the team who had taken the 2019 World Cup by storm but the one who had sunk like a souffle in 2015.

The batting, though, was one thing – the bowling quite another. Sam Curran burgled a wicket with his first ball, strangling Will Young down the leg side, but otherwise it was a horror show against the kind of assertive batting that England have grown used to inflicting on others.

Joe Root’s 77 was the only positive for England as they racked up a below par total of 282-9

Matt Henry (pictured) and Mitchell Santner were the standout bowlers for New Zealand 

England’s performance raised questions about their preparation and the pressure is now on

As Wood and Chris Woakes went for 100 between them in 11 wild and wicketless overs, and with Moeen Ali and Rashid unable to stem the flow, the only bowlers who enhanced their reputation were Reece Topley, David Willey and Gus Atkinson – to say nothing of the recuperating Jofra Archer.

As Conway completed a hundred in 83 balls, and Ravindra in 82, Buttler and his colleagues looked shellshocked, and England’s 3–1 win against the same opponents in September utterly irrelevant.

Above all, England’s performance raised serious questions about their preparation. While their World Cup squad sat out the subsequent three-match series against Ireland, the New Zealanders acclimatised to Asian conditions by travelling to Bangladesh.

That was compounded when rain washed out England’s first warm-up game against India in Guwahati, then shortened the second against Bangladesh.

England may argue they were undercooked. But their challenge now will be to allay concerns they are no longer the team they once were. That starts on Tuesday in the Himalayas. Only a convincing win will do.

Source: Read Full Article