Aakash Chopra, a former Indian batter, believes that New Zealand’s overwhelming performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup opening has satisfied their desire to exact retribution on England after the sad defeat in the 2019 ODI World Cup final. The tournament began on Thursday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad with a nine-wicket victory by the Black Caps.
In 2019, New Zealand almost missed winning the trophy to England, who claimed victory thanks to a higher boundary count. The game had ended in a draw, and in the ensuing Super Over, there was no difference between the two teams.
In the most recent match, England was viewed as a clear favorite, especially considering New Zealand’s injury woes. Even though they were down to just 12 players, the Black Caps managed to hold the reigning champions to 282 runs before chasing down the total in 36.3 overs.
Aakash Chopra praised New Zealand’s performance against England in a video posted to 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.”
Aakash Chopra
The only encouraging aspect of England’s batting performance was the combination between Joe Root and Jos Buttler. A number of English hitters were abruptly removed, and their shot choices were also exceedingly dubious.
Chopra asserted that England believed their “reputation” would start things off. He 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.”
Aakash Chopra
Due to the occasional off-spin of Glenn Phillips, Joe Root and Moeen Ali were dismissed. Additionally, with their individual significant spells, Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner were the top two New Zealand bowlers.
Aakash Chopra doubtful about Rachin Ravindra’s ability to handle Mark Wood’s pace
England took an early stride in the run chase by removing Will Young for a golden duck. The combination of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, though, stole the stage, leaving captain Jos Buttler helpless from the point.
The left-handed partnership helped New Zealand get off to a fast start in their World Cup campaign by putting up 273 runs for the second wicket. Conway finished the game with an undefeated 152 runs off 121 deliveries, and Player of the Match Rachin Ravindra added 123* runs off 96 deliveries.
Aakash Chopra lauded New Zealand and Rachin Ravindra in particular and 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,”
Aakash Chopra
Because of their overwhelming victory over England in the opening match of the 2023 ODI World Cup, New Zealand had already collected a commanding net run rate of +2.149.