This was an absolute walloping.
There was no hiding place for England, they were just second best, and they can’t blame conditions because most of this battering took place before any of the dew that both sides feared when they wanted to bowl first came down.
Credit has to go to New Zealand. They were not only missing their captain Kane Williamson and Tim Southee with that broken thumb he suffered in England but they also lost Lockie Ferguson in the build up to the game with a stiff back.
That left Tom Latham with only three frontline bowlers at his disposal and he used them brilliantly. His captaincy and the way he employed Trent Boult, Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner as well as his part-timers was exceptional.
This was the first time in the history of one-day cricket that all 11 batters reached double figures in an innings but the trouble for England was that everybody got in and then everyone got out all too soon afterwards.
England were outclassed by an exceptional New Zealand side in their nine-wicket defeat
New Zealand skipper Tom Lathan (right) was brilliant in the way he utilised his bowlers
England were disappointing and wasteful with the bat and ended with a score well below par
What it meant was, on a 320 plus pitch, England fell way short which meant they had to be absolutely perfect with the ball to have any chance. And they were far from that.
Chris Woakes set the tone – and not in the right manner. He looked very short of rhythm, bowled both sides of the wicket and was too full. Then Mark Wood’s extra pace just came onto the bat beautifully for New Zealand. Only Sam Curran, at least with the new ball, can be said to have had anything like a good evening.
New Zealand’s two left-handers were exceptional. Devon Conway has a fabulous record against England and has become one of the great all-format players in world cricket. He has good experience on this ground, too, from making runs in the IPL final.
And as for Rachin Ravindra? Boy, what a find he has been. There has been a lot of talk about the superstars who might light up this World Cup but it was this youngster who made the biggest impression on opening day.
We saw Ravindra hitting four sixes in his 61 in a losing cause at the end of New Zealand’s one-day international against England at Lord’s last month but this, from a different position, was on another level. The sound the ball made off his bat and the shots he played were magnificent.
They were proper cricket shots, too, no scoops or reverse sweeps, just good hitting, from two New Zealand players who get on very well off the field too. They have clearly learnt from each other and they provided a masterclass in white-ball batting.
England missed the nous of Ben Stokes to get them above par and they will just have to be better from now on. The one good thing is that perhaps they have got their bad performance out of the way early – if they did this in the semi-finals it would be all over.
Rachin Ravindra (left) and Devon Conway (right) were sensational as they scored hundreds
Jos Buttler’s side cannot afford many more slip-ups with several good teams in the World Cup
There are a lot of good teams in this tournament and if England are to get into the top four they cannot afford too many more slip-ups.
Were England under-cooked? I don’t know about that. These guys play so much cricket that I don’t think that should be an issue. But it was perhaps true of Wood who had bowled just three overs in a rain-ruined warm-up since the Ashes ahead of this.
England were simply not at the races. It was one of those days when they were well below par and the opposition were excellent.
It is rare for an England white-ball side to be outclassed these days but that was the case yesterday. Now they must dust themselves down, get a win under their belts in the next game in Dharamsala, and try to get on a run.
