Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra headlined New Zealand’s dominant win over defending champions England in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 opener in Ahmedabad on Thursday, October 5.
Unlike the previous World Cup outing between England and New Zealand four years ago, which was determined by the “barest of margins”, the 2023 edition opener turned out to be a rather one-sided contest, with Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra bossing the England attack with monotonous ease in a run-chase of 283.
That was after England recorded a unique feat during their first innings effort of 282/9. Each of their 11 batters registered a double-digit score in what was the first ever such instance in the history of ODIs (Men’s or Women’s).
Here’s a look at the various records shattered by the BlackCaps duo:
Highest partnerships for NZ in ODIs (any wicket)
274 – Brendon McCullum & James Marshall vs IRE, Aberdeen, 2008
273* – Devon Conway & Rachin Ravindra vs ENG, Ahmedabad, 2023
267* – Grant Elliott & Luke Ronchi vs SL, Dunedin, 2015
236* – Martin Guptill & Tom Latham vs ZIM, Harare, 2015
221* – Kane Williamson & Tom Latham vs IND, Auckland, 2015
Highest partnerships in World Cups (any wicket)
372 – Chris Gayle & Marlon Samuels (WI) vs ZIM, Canberra, 2015
318 – Sourav Ganguly & Rahul Dravid (IND) vs SL, Taunton, 1999
282 – Tillakaratne Dilshan & Upul Tharanga (SL) vs ZIM, Pallekele, 2011
273* – Devon Conway & Rachin Ravindra (NZ) vs ENG, Ahmedabad, 2023
260 – David Warner & Steven Smith (AUS) vs AFG, Perth, 2015
Highest partnerships involving two World Cup debutants
273* – Devon Conway & Rachin Ravindra (NZ) vs ENG, Ahmedabad, 2023
176 – Dennis Amiss & Keith Fletcher (ENG) vs IND, Lord’s, 1975
149 – Glenn Turner & John Parker (NZ) vs East Africa, Birmingham, 1975
146 – Aaron Finch & Geroge Bailey (AUS) vs ENG, Melbourne, 2015
145* – Gary Kirsten & Daryll Cullinan (SA) vs UAE, Rawalpindi, 1996
It was also the third highest partnership in an ODI run-chase, only behind 286 between Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga (vs England in Leeds, 2006) and 282* between Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock (vs Bangladesh in Kimberley in 2017).
Furthermore, the duo recorded the highest ever partnership in a run-chase in World Cup, bettering 231* between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga in the 2011 quarter final against England in Colombo (RPS).
Highest individual scores for NZ in World Cups:
237* – Martin Guptill vs WI, Wellington, 2015
171* – Glenn Turner vs East Africa, Birmingham, 1975
152* – Devon Conway vs England, Ahmedabad, 2023
148 – Kane Williamson vs WI, Manchester, 2019
141 – Scott Styris vs SL, Bloemfontein, 2003
Highest scores on World Cup debut
188* – Gary Kirsten (SA) vs UAE, Rawalpindi, 1996
172* – Craig Wishart (ZIM) vs NAM, Harare, 2003
171* – Glenn Turner (NZ) vs East Africa, Birmingham, 1975
152* – Devon Conway (NZ) vs ENG, Ahmedabad, 2023
143* – Andrew Symonds (AUS) vs PAK, Johannesburg, 2003
This is also the first instance of two World Cup debutants scoring hundreds in the same match.
At 23 years and 321 days, Ravindra became the third youngest to score a hundred on World Cup debut after Virat Kohli (at 22y, 106d vs Bangladesh, Mirpur, 2011) and Andy Flower (at 23y, 301d vs SL, New Plymouth, 1992). Conway, on the other hand, became the second oldest to achieve the feat at 32 years and 89 days after Ireland’s Jeremy Bray, who did that at 33y, 105d vs Zimbabwe at Kingston in 2007.
The left-handed Conway also completed 1,000 ODI runs in just his 22nd outing, another record for the 2019 runners-up.
Fastest to 1000 ODI runs for New Zealand (by innings)
22- Devon Conway
24 – Glenn Turner
24 – Daryl Mitchell
25 – Andrew Jones
29 – Bruce Edgar
29 – Jesse Ryder
Highest run-rates in successful 250-plus run-chases in World Cups
7.78 – 283/1 by NZ vs ENG, Ahmedabad, 2023
7.75 – 322/3 by BAN vs WI, Taunton, 2019
7.05 – 260/2 by IND vs IRE, Hamilton, 2015
6.98 – 299/6 by NZ vs SA, Auckland, 2015 SF
6.69 – 307/6 by IRE vs WI, Nelson, 2015
6.69 – 329/7 by IRE vs ENG, Bengaluru, 2011
Earlier, Matt Henry (3/48) and Mitchell Santner (2/37) were the standouts among New Zealand bowlers after Tom Latham opted to bowl, with the latter combining with Glenn Phillips and Ravindra to dent England’s progress. It was just the third instance of New Zealand spinners bagging five or more wickets in a World Cup game, after Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel combined to achieve the feat twice in the 2007 edition in the West Indies.
Most wickets bagged by NZ spinners in a World Cup match
6 vs Canada, St. Lucia (Gros Islet), 2007
6 vs Ireland, Guyana (Providence), 2007
5 vs England, Ahmedabad, 2023
