ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023: New Zealand beat England by 9 wickets

England captain Jos Buttler has said that they were well below par against New Zealand in the opening match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. New Zealand beat England by 9 wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Speaking after the match, Buttler said England were outplayed by New Zealand, but remained positive about their remaining World Cup campaign. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra scored centuries as New Zealand chased down the 283-run target with 9 wickets to spare.

“Disappointing day, outplayed by New Zealand, tough to take that defeat. One loss, still a long tournament. Lot of guys in our team have played a lot of cricket. We have beaten teams this way before and we have been at the end of such results before,” said Buttler.

He went on to say that England were well below par against the Kiwis, adding that they were aiming to post a total of around 330 in the first innings. Joe Root scored the first fifty of the 2023 World Cup but a three-wicket haul by Matt Henry helped New Zealand restrict the



defending champions to 282 for 9.

“I thought we were well below par, not judging by the way New Zealand batted, because we were aiming for somewhere around 330. It was a good wicket to bat and I think it got even better in the second innings. Tough to build any pressure with the start they got. We lacked being clinical with our executions,” Buttler added.

Buttler also heaped praise on Conway and Ravindra, saying both of them played exceptionally well. Conway scored 152 runs, while Ravindra amassed 123 runs as the two stitched an unbeaten partnership of 273 runs.

“Someone like Conway, he didn't play any massive shots, but he scored very quickly. Same is the case with Rachin Ravindra. The two guys played exceptionally well, fantastic partnership and we all were beaten. Skidded on even better under lights, that's why we wanted to bowl as well,” said Buttler.

Having lost their opening match against New Zealand, England will get ready to take on Bangladesh at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala on October 10.