Records tumble as New Zealand run riot against England in World Cup 2023 opener

ICC World Cup 2023 New Zealand scripted history on Thursday after becoming the fastest side to complete a 250run plus chase in terms of overs in the history of World CupChasing a total of 283 runs the Kiwis chased it down in just 362 overs with a runrate of 778 Centuries from both Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra helped New Zealand thrash the defending champions brutally and make a mockery of the targetThe 273run partnership between Conway and Ravindra is the highest partnership for any wicket for New Zealand in the history of the World Cup Overall it is the fourthhighest partnership in World Cup history with Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels partnership of 372 runs for the second wicket against Zimbabwe being the highest ever in the tournaments history It is followed by Indias Sourav GangulyRahul Dravid partnership of 318 runs against Sri Lanka in the 1999 Cricket World Cup and a 282run stand between SLs Tillakaratne Dilshan amp Upul Tharanga against Zimbabwe in the 2011 edition of the tournamentWith a century in just 82 balls Rachin smashed New Zealands fastest century in ODI World Cup history Overall the fastest WC century is in the hands of Irelands Kevin OBrien against England in 2011 which came off just 50 ballsRavindra also became the third youngest overall and youngest Kiwi batter to smash a World Cup debut century The youngest player with a World Cup century on debut is Indias Virat Kohli who scored a century aged 22 years and 106 days old during the 2011 WC against BangladeshAlso ReadDisgruntled fans cry foul over ticketing processConway on the other hand is the second oldest to score a World Cup century at the age of 32 years and 89 days The oldest to score a WC century is Irelands Jeremy Bray against Zimbabwe in 2007 at the age of 33 years and 105 daysConway is also the fastest Kiwi batter to reach the milestone of 1000 ODI runs doing so in just 22 inningsIn 22 ODIs Conway has scored 1026 runs at an average of 5400 with five centuries and three fifties in 22 innings His best score is 152Coming to the match NZ elected to field first and restricted England to 2829 in 50 overs Joe Root 77 in 86 balls with four boundaries and a six held the entire innings together with his returntoform fifty However skipper Jos Buttler 43 in 42 balls with two fours and two sixes and Jonny Bairstow 33 in 35 balls with four boundaries and a six contributed some decent knocks too For the first time ever in ODI history all the batters in a team got scores in double figuresMatt Henry 348 was the pick of the bowlers for the Kiwis Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips also used their spin bowling to choke Englands run flow and took two wickets Trent Boult and Rachin got a wicket eachIn the chase of 283 NZ lost Will Young for a duck but Conway 152 in 121 balls with 19 fours and three sixes and Ravindra 123 in 96 balls with 11 fours and five sixes helped the Kiwis win with almost 14 overs in handWith agency inputs