New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra blazed through his half-century against England in the opening fixture of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Ahmedabad. The southpaw brought up his fifty in mere 36 balls. (Match Blog | Scorecard | Full Coverage)
At the time of filing the report, the youngster was involved in an unbeaten second-wicket stand of 216 runs in 185 balls as the Kiwis inched closer to a big win at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
The 23-year-old from Wellington reached his maiden fifty with a six over long on off Moeen Ali in the 12th over to celebrate his first World Cup match in some style. The youngster, who arrived in the centre at the centre 10/1 in the second over after the fall of Will Young, then wasted no time in notching up his first ODI ton, in just 82 balls with the help of nine fours and four sixes.
Ravindra, who was born to Indian parents in Wellington, is also an attacking left-arm spinner. The Kiwi all-rounder's father, Ravi Krishnamurthy, is a huge fan of Indian cricketing stalwarts - Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. And he named his son Rachin -- 'Ra' from Rahul and 'chin' from Sachin.
The southpaw has represented New Zealand at the U-19 level, and the A-team as well. His international debut came in 2021 against Bangladesh in a T20I match.
Earlier, opting to bowl first, New Zealand restricted England to 282/9 despite Joe Root hitting a well-paced 86-ball 77. For the Kiwis, who lost to England in the 2019 final in dramatic fashion, pacer Matt Henry (3/46), left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner (2/37) and part-time spinner Glenn Phillips (2/17) did the damage.
There were useful knocks by Jonny Bairstow (33) and captain Jos Buttler (43), but England failed to kick on against the 2019 finalists, who were led by stand-in captain Tom Latham.
