New Zealand rout England as Cricket World Cup suffers empty feeling

New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra celebrates after reaching his century with Devon Conway during the ICC Cricket World Cup opening match against England in Ahmedabad, India on October 5, 2023. (REUTERS)
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Updated 05 October 2023
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New Zealand rout England as Cricket World Cup suffers empty feeling

  • Conway and Ravindra smashed centuries to power New Zealand to a crushing win after England scored 282-9
  • The result was a contrast to the epic World Cup final in 2019 when England defeated New Zealand in a tied match

AHMEDABAD: New Zealand handed defending champions England a nine-wicket thrashing at the Cricket World Cup on Thursday at the start of a marathon tournament likely to dictate the event’s status in the future of the sport.

Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra smashed centuries to power New Zealand to a crushing win over an England side stripped of injured talisman Ben Stokes.

After restricting England to 282-9, left-handers Conway (152) and Ravindra (123) put on an unbeaten stand of 273 for the second wicket as the Black Caps comfortably overhauled the target with 13.4 overs to spare.

The result was a contrast to the epic World Cup final at Lord’s in 2019 between the two teams when England won a tied match on boundary count back.

“It’s unbelievable and great to have a great day out,” said Ravindra.

New Zealand, led by Tom Latham in the absence of regular skipper Kane Williamson, kept England down to a below-par total despite Joe Root’s 77.

Conway hit the first ton of the tournament off 83 balls studded with 13 fours and two sixes and soon reached 1,000 runs in 23 ODI matches.

The 23-year-old Ravindra quickly followed with his maiden ODI century off 82 balls with nine fours and four sixes, raising his bat to acknowledge the smattering of fans inside the 132,000-capacity arena.

“It was a disappointing day,” admitted England captain Jos Buttler.

“We were very much outplayed by New Zealand but it’s still just one loss in a long tournament.”

The optics of a disappointingly low crowd made for grim viewing.

Only a few hundred spectators saw the early passages of play before ground officials claimed the figure rose to 40,000 for the later stages.

With the explosion of Twenty20 cricket both in global events and lucrative franchises, the 50-over game was already facing the biggest crisis of confidence in its 52-year history.

“We believe strongly that ODIs should be World Cups only,” Mark Nicholas, the new president of the MCC, the body responsible for the laws of the game, told ESPNcricinfo.

“We think it’s difficult bilaterally now to justify them. They’re not filling grounds in a lot of countries. And there is a power at the moment to T20 cricket that is almost supernatural.”

He added: “In a free market, the most money wins.”

This year’s World Cup has only 10 teams but will take 45 days to complete.

By contrast, the Twenty20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies in 2024 will see 20 nations compete in an event condensed into four weeks.

Furthermore, the short-form game is widely expected to be voted in as an Olympic sport for 2028 next week.

Organizers fear stadiums for this World Cup will continue to struggle to attract full houses -- a likely scenario in matches not involving India.

The women’s wing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party even sent out messages offering as many as 40,000 free tickets for Thursday’s game to women, a senior party leader said.

The World Cup sees Pakistan visiting India for the first time in seven years after an intense spell of brinkmanship which almost saw them boycott the World Cup.

Babar Azam’s team only received visas two days before they were due to arrive at their base in Hyderabad where they face the Netherlands on Friday.

Security fears over their blockbuster clash with bitter rivals India on October 14 meant that game was brought forward a day.

“I think there’s a bit of a mystique,” said Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur of his team on Thursday.

“The Indian public loves cricket. They don’t get to see the likes of Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammed Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, they don’t get to see them often.”

Of the 15-man Pakistan squad, only two have ever played in India.

With seats already all sold out for the India-Pakistan clash, fans have been turning to the black market.

Tickets for a normal seat costing 2000 rupees ($24) have shot up more than 25 times to as much as 50,000 rupees ($600).

India were champions the last time the tournament was staged on the sub-continent in 2011.

Under the tournament format, all 10 teams play each other once with the top four heading for the semi-finals.

The final takes place in Ahmedabad on November 19.


Smylie wins on LIV Golf debut, leads Ripper GC to team title in Riyadh

Updated 08 February 2026
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Smylie wins on LIV Golf debut, leads Ripper GC to team title in Riyadh

  • Jon Rahm and Torque GC finish second in the individual and team competitions respectively

RIYADH: Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith believes his new teammate Elvis Smylie can one day become the best golfer in the world. After the 23-year-old Australian produced four sizzling rounds to win on his LIV Golf debut, the rest of the league may very well share the same sentiment.

Smylie capped off an impressive first week under the lights at Roshn Group LIV Golf Riyadh, shooting a final-round bogey-free 8-under 64 on Saturday to hold off a hard-charging Jon Rahm by one stroke. He also led the Rippers to the team title, as the Aussies swept both trophies going into their biggest tournament of the season at LIV Golf Adelaide next week.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Smylie, who officially joined the team last month. “I really didn’t know what to expect this week. Playing at night is obviously a whole different ballgame out here. I wanted to come out here and make a statement. I wanted to prove that I’m one of the best out here, and I feel like I’ve done that. It’s only up from here.”

Smith agreed. “The crazy thing is I still think he’s got a lot of improving to go, which is pretty scary, really, for the rest of us, because he waxed us this week. I genuinely think he can be the best golfer in the world. He’s got all the tools of the trade. He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing and knuckle down.”

With the win, Smylie earns the projected points allotted by the Official World Golf Ranking to the winner of this week’s LIV Golf tournament. The OWGR announced earlier this week that points will be awarded for LIV Golf tournaments this season to the top 10 and ties. Smylie entered the week ranked 134th and is expected to move up significantly with the victory.

Smylie’s winning score of 24 under is the lowest in league history, a byproduct perhaps of the league’s adjusted format from 54 to 72 holes. He also beat the biggest field in LIV Golf history after an increase from 54 to 57 players this season.

But more impressive than the raw numbers was Smylie’s sublime play, especially with a new blade putter. “Everything looked like a bucket for me, which is nice,” said Smylie, who ranked third in the field in strokes gained putting.

He needed a hot putter down the stretch to create some separation from the field, then withstand the last-ditch rally by Rahm, the Legion XIII captain and two-time LIV Golf individual champion.

Rahm started the day two shots behind co-leaders Smylie and Peter Uihlein and was three strokes behind when Smylie birdied the par-4 12th. But the Spaniard closed fast with birdies on five of his last six holes, including the last four.

He drove the green at the 396-yard par-4 18th but could not convert the eagle putt. Still, his final birdie put the finishing touches on a 9-under bogey-free 63, the lowest round of the week, and reduced Smylie’s lead to one.

Smylie, however, was not aware of the slim margin until hitting his approach shot at the 18th that left him on the edge of the green.

“I actually didn’t know that I had to two-putt the last green,” he said. “I thought I would have had a two-shot lead going into 18. But as soon as I was walking up the green, I saw that I only had one, so I’m like, I’ve got to clutch up here and make sure to get this up-and-down.”

Rahm, who shot a final-round 11-under 60 in his last regular-season LIV Golf tournament in Indianapolis last year to clinch his second consecutive season-long title, pointed to his failure to make birdie at the par-5 sixth and a poor approach shot at the par-4 11th as missed opportunities. Even so, he was pleased with making a run to earn his fifth runner-up finish and 25th top-10 result in 27 regular-season LIV Golf appearances.

“It was a fantastic round of golf, shot 9-under,” he said. “Elvis had a great day and a two-shot lead. If anything, if there’s one or two shots to look at, I’ve got to go to earlier in the week.”

RangeGoats GC’s Uihlein finished third after shooting a 67 for 21 under, while Fireballs GC’s David Puig and 4Aces GC’s Thomas Pieters shot 65s to share fourth place with Torque GC’s Abraham Ancer.

The team competition turned into a battle between Ripper and Torque. The Australians started off fast, with Marc Leishman beginning his round with four straight birdies; the team collectively was 11 under through their first six holes.

Torque responded with Ancer, making his first start for his new team after four years with Fireballs GC, and Sebastian Munoz each shooting 66.

But the 64s by Smylie and Lucas Herbert were supported by Smith’s 65 and Leishman’s 69 to produce a fourth-round team score of 26 under, the third-best single round team score in league history. Ripper’s tournament total of 69 under is a league record as they won their fifth regular-season team title by three shots.