Devon Conway has slammed a stunning 150-run knock from just 121 balls, taking the World Cup by storm. He along with Rachin Ravindra both registered tons to guide New Zealand to a 9-wicket win over England. An unbeaten 271-run stand between the two Kiwi batters baffled England as the Three Lions succumbed to a humiliating defeat.
Despite the heroics of Rachin Ravindra, the star of the show was Devon Conway. The left-handed opener smashed 19 fours and 3 sixes to bring up 150 runs and guide his side to a dominant victory. Leading his side from the front, Conway was the star of the show.
‘Empty Stands’ Fans lash out after ICC & BCCI fails to attract fans in World Cup opener
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
Oldest to score hundreds on World Cup debut
33d, 105d – Jeremy Bray (IRE) vs ZIM, Kingston, 2007
32y, 89d – Devon Conway (NZ) vs ENG, Ahmedabad, 2023
32y, 61d – Denis Amiss (ENG) vs IND, Lord’s, 1975
29y, 32d – Craig Wishart (ZIM) vs NAM, Harare, 2003
Not only did Conway guide his side to an emphatic victory, he managed to break quite a few records in the process. Conway became the fastest Kiwi to reach 1000 ODI runs. He managed to achieve his feat in just 22 innings. On the other hand, he became the 2nd oldest Kiwi to score a century on his World Cup debut.
England set new record, becomes first team to achieve THIS milestone after 4658 ODIs
New Zealand lost Will Young to a first-ball duck early on in their innings. However, this brought in Ravindra, who joined forces with Conway to light up the first Powerplay. The Black Caps hit 13 fours and two sixes in the first Powerplay. Both the sixes came from Ravindra’s bat, one against Mark Wood and the other against Moeen Ali.
The scoring rate dropped a tad bit after the drinks break, but Conway and Ravindra got back into the groove soon after. Their unbeaten stand of 177 runs (at the 25-over mark) was already the highest partnership for two New Zealand batters in a Cricket World Cup encounter. They overtook the 168-run stand between Chris Harris and Lee Germon from 1996.
The duo continued their unstoppable run after the midway mark. They reached their respective tons during their stand as well. This was Conway’s fifth and Ravindra’s maiden ODI hundred. As the duo closed in on the target, the England bowling lost its edge. They managed to overhaul the total in the 37th over.