The defending champions, the England national cricket team failed to bring the best out of themselves in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 opener against the New Zealand national cricket team. The Three Lions were completely outplayed by the Black Caps across all three aspects of the game.
Tom Latham led the New Zealand cricket team in Kane Williamson’s absence for the first game. Notably, under his captaincy, New Zealand went on to defeat England quite convincingly in the tourney opener at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Batting first, the defending champions set up a target of 283 for New Zealand. On the other hand, the Black Caps chased down the target with ease after losing one wicket. The likes of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra added a 273-run partnership for the second wicket, which was more than enough to guide the team to a massive win.
I need to change my prediction now: Virender Sehwag
Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has reacted to England’s crushing defeat at the hands of the New Zealand national cricket team. The former Indian opener said that he needs to change his prediction. For the unversed, Sehwag earlier predicted England in the top four teams for the World Cup 2023.
“I had kept England in my top four, but I think I need to change my prediction now. Yes, they can lose two matches and still make it to the semi-finals. However, their net run rate has taken a massive hit. So, they will need to beat another team by a big margin,” Sehwag added.
After the game, Jos Buttler said, “It’s a fantastic performance. Fantastic partnership between Rachin and Devon, but it was set up at the start. Fantastic effort with the ball to restrict them to 280 on that surface, it was a total below par.”
