New Zealand made history during the ICC Cricket World Cup opening match against England, becoming the first team to complete a 250-run plus chase in the fastest time in terms of overs in the history of the World Cup.
Chasing a total of 283 runs, the Kiwis chased it down in just 36.2 overs with a run rate of 7.78. Centuries from both Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra helped New Zealand thrash the defending champions brutally and make a mockery of the target. Also, the 273-run partnership between Conway and Ravindra is the highest partnership for any wicket for New Zealand in the history of the World Cup. Overall, it is the fourth-highest partnership in World Cup history, with Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels partnership of 372 runs for the second wicket against Zimbabwe being the highest ever in the tournament’s history. It is followed by India’s Sourav Ganguly-Rahul Dravid partnership of 318 runs against Sri Lanka in the 1999 Cricket World Cup and a 282-run stand between SL’s Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga against Zimbabwe in the 2011 edition of the tournament.
With a century in just 82 balls, Rachin smashed New Zealand’s fastest century in ODI World Cup history. Overall, the fastest WC century is in the hands of Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien against England in 2011, which came off just 50 balls. Ravindra also became the third-youngest overall and youngest Kiwi batter to smash a World Cup debut century. The youngest player with a World Cup century on debut is India’s Virat Kohli, who scored a century at 22 years and 106 days old during the 2011 World Cup against Bangladesh. Conway, on the other hand, is the second oldest to score a World Cup century at the age of 32 years and 89 days. The oldest to score a WC century is Ireland’s Jeremy Bray against Zimbabwe in 2007 at the age of 33 years and 105 days. Conway is also the fastest Kiwi batter to reach the milestone of 1,000 ODI runs, doing so in just 22 innings.
