New Zealand got their campaign up and running with a nine-wicket hammering of England in their ICC World Cup opening match at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday, October 5, 2023.
Kiwi opener Devon Conway and No 3 batter Rachin Ravindra struck centuries and put on a 200-plus partnership to take New Zealand to victory and add their names to the annals of the game...
Conway and Ravindra scoring centuries in the same game is the first instance of two Kiwi batters scoring a century each in a World Cup match. It was also the first time two Kiwi batters scored a century each on World Cup debut.
The 273 not out stand between Conway and Ravindra is the highest partnership for New Zealand in World Cup history.
Theirs is now the 4th highest partnership in the event, the record partnership being 372 by West Indies' Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels at the 2015 World Cup against Zimbabwe.
Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly's stand of 318 against Sri Lanka at Taunton at the 1999 World Cup being the second highest while Tilakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga's 282 run partnership against Zimbabwe at the 2011 World Cup rounding off the top 3.
Conway's 152 not out is the third highest score by a New Zealander at the ODI World Cup, behind Martin Guptill's 237 not out against the West Indies in 2015 and Glenn Turner's 171 not out against East Africa in 1975.
Conway becomes first batter to score 150-plus runs against England in the men's ODI World Cup.
At 32 years and 89 days, Conway (32 years, 89 days) is the second oldest Kiwi to hit a World Cup hundred. He is also the third oldest batter to hit a century on World Cup debut.
Ireland's Jeremy Bray (33 years, 105 days) is the oldest when he scored a century against Zimbabwe on debut at Kingston in 2007.
England's Dennis Amiss (32 years, 61 days) is in third place with his hundred against India at Lords at the first World Cup in 1975.
Zimbabwe's Craig Wishart (29 years, 32 days) rounds off the oldest four to score a ton on World Cup debut with his hundred against Namibia in Harare in 2003.
Conway becomes the quickest New Zealander to score 1,000 ODI runs, completing the milestone in just 22 innings. He broke the record previously held by Glenn Turner, who took 24 innings to reach the milestone.
Conway is also the fastest New Zealand batter to five hundreds in ODIs -- Kane Williamson was the previous quickest, needing 56 innings.
Ravindra's maiden ODI century came off just 82 deliveries, making him the fastest centurion for New Zealand at the World Cup. Minutes earlier, Conway held that record having hit his 5th ODI hundred off 83 balls!
At 23 years and 321 days, Rachin Ravindra is the youngest Kiwi to hit a 100 at the World Cup. He also becomes the third youngest behind Virat Kohli (22 years, 106 days) and Andy Flower (23 years, 301 days) to hit a ton on a World Cup debut.
