ENG vs NZ: First Time In Cricket History! England Achieve Enormous Feat In World Cup 2023 Opener

England National Cricket Team have managed to achieve a tremendous and historic milestone despite not posting a huge total on the board in the opening match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 against the New Zealand National Cricket Team.

The world’s largest cricket stadium – Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad – is hosting the World Cup opener on Thursday, October 5. The BlackCaps were led by Tom Latham in the match as regular skipper Kane Williamson was unavailable. Also, the Three Lions were without star player Ben Stokes in the match as the English Test captain was not fit to play.

Latham called it right at the toss and invited the Three Lions to bat first in the match. England openers Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan provided their side with a decent start by stitching together 40 runs.

The defending champions lost the next three wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 118/4. Then, the senior batter Joe Root, who hasn’t been at his best in ODIs in recent times, showcased a batting masterclass. He was involved in an amazing 70-run partnership with skipper Jos Buttler and together they brought England back in the game.

England Achieve Historic Milestone

After losing Buttler, Joe Root built a good little partnership with Liam Livingstone, before being dismissed Glenn Phillips by in the 42nd over. The batter scored a brilliant 77 runs off 86 balls, with 4 fours 1 six, before he got castled while attempting a reverse sweep.

The tailenders of England also did a decent job and helped their side reach 282/9 in 50 overs. Although England lost wickets at regular intervals and only Joe Root played a big knock, the Three Lions still managed to achieve a historic milestone.

All the 11 players in the England line-up scored at least 10 runs each and this was the first instance in the history of ODI cricket that 11 batters in a team had reached double figures.

England Playing XI: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c) (wk), Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

New Zealand Playing XI: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (c) (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Trent Boult