ENG vs NZ: Watch- Jonny Bairstow And England Enter Record Books As The Batter Opens ICC World Cup 2023 With A Six

The ICC World Cup 2023 has started with the clash between England and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Jonny Bairstow kickstarted the tournament with a rollicking six and it couldn’t get any better than this. 

New Zealand won the toss and opted to field first. Trent Boult opened the attack for his team and was spot on with the first delivery as bowled an inswinger that came in. However, Jonny Bairstow made sure that he didn’t let the pacer be on him as he took attack to him on the second ball. 

Jonny Bairstow slammed the second ball for a maximum that made many go gaga. Trent Boult bowled an inswinger that was down the leg side. The England opener flicked it over long leg with sublime timing. The ball flew away to the boundary and the defending champions opened their account with the six. 

Here’s the video: 

First runs of the #icccricketworldcup2023 & that too with a SIX 6⃣ …

England started the Bazball way ??#ENGvsNZ #ICCCricketWorldCup #Ahmedabad #NarendraModiStadium pic.twitter.com/ddyNAfYHyL

— SRKxVIJAY (@Srkxvijay) October 5, 2023

With the six on the second ball of the match, Jonny Bairstow and England achieved a historic feat. It marked the first instance in the Cricket World Cup history when the first scoring shot in the tournament has been a six. 

After hitting six, Jonny Bairstow slammed one four in that over as well and added 12 runs. He looked good as he timed the ball perfectly. However, he couldn’t cash on the start he got as he was back in the 13th over of the game. 

Jonny Bairstow chipped the ball off Mitchell Santner straight to deep cover. He managed 33 runs off 35 balls with the help of 4 fours and 1 six. Apart from that, England also lost Dawid Malan (69) early. Now the onus will be on the other batters to take them to the big total. 

England And New Zealand Playing 11 for the first game of the ICC World Cup 2023 

England are playing without the services of Ben Stokes in the first game. In his place, Harry Brook has been drafted into the XI. Whereas New Zealand are without Kane Williamson. Tom Latham is captaining the team. 

Here’s the Playing 11 of England 

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

Here’s the Playing 11 of New Zealand 

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