"It looked like New Zealand took revenge for the 2019 World Cup final loss" - Aakash Chopra on the Blackcaps' ruthless display against England
Former India batter Aakash Chopra feels that New Zealand have completed their revenge on England for the heartbreaking loss in the 2019 ODI World Cup final with a dominant display in the 2023 ODI World Cup opener. The Blackcaps romped to a nine-wicket win at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday to get the tournament underway.
New Zealand lost out on the trophy by the barest of margins back in 2019 as England were crowned winners by virtue of a superior boundary count. The contest had finished as a tie and there was nothing to separate the two sides in the subsequent Super Over as well.
England were considered firm favorites in the recently held contest, especially with New Zealand plagued with injury concerns. The Blackcaps only had 12 players available for the clash and managed to restrict the defending champions to 282 before chasing down the total in 36.3 overs.
Praising New Zealand's display against England, Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel:
"It looked like New Zealand took revenge for the 2019 World Cup final loss. I mean, they completely dominated the opposition. England started as one of the favorites, but New Zealand made them look so ordinary."
England lost their way with the bat, with Joe Root and Jos Buttler's partnership being the only positive takeaway. Several English batters were dismissed in an untimely fashion while their shot selection was highly questionable as well.
Opining that England expected their 'reputation' to get things going, Chopra added:
"What are you doing, England? It looked like they expected their reputation to do all the work. They wanted to play aggressive cricket, but it did not transpire on the ground at all. I saw so many poor shots towards the end, take Joe Root's and Moeen Ali's dismissal as example."
Joe Root and Moeen Ali lost their wickets to Glenn Phillips' part-time off-spin. Furthermore, Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner were the pick of the New Zealand bowlers with their respective impactful spells.
"I was a bit skeptical around how Rachin Ravindra would fare against Mark Wood's pace" - Aakash Chopra
During the run chase, England made the early breakthrough by dismissing Will Young for a golden duck. However, skipper Jos Buttler was rendered powerless from the point as the duo of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra stole the show.
The left-handed pair put on 273 runs for the second wicket to help New Zealand get their World Cup campaign off to a flying start. Conway ended with an unbeaten 152 runs off 121 deliveries while Rachin Ravindra, who was named Player of the Match, chipped in with 123* off 96 deliveries.
Praising New Zealand and Rachin Ravindra in particular, Aakash Chopra said:
"No one hardly rates New Zealand. They hardly play matches in between the two World Cup editions, no one plays big series against them, but they still come through."
"I was a bit skeptical around how Rachin Ravindra would fare against Mark Wood's pace, but he was absolutely sensational. He played with maturity, he played under his eyes, close to his body, and he was absolutely brilliant," he added.
New Zealand have already amassed a dominant net run rate of +2.149, courtesy of their mammoth win over England in the opening contest of the 2023 ODI World Cup.