England made the surprise move of promoting Moeen Ali above Jos Buttler against New Zealand in the opening match of ICC Men’s World Cup 2023, at Ahmedabad on October 5.
New Zealand will be without injured Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson for the opening game of the 2023 World Cup, with Tom Latham, who took charge during Williamson’s absence, absent from the field. I chose that. England brought on Harry Brook in place of Ben Stokes, who has a hip problem.
Jonny Bairstow (33 off 35 balls) and Dawid Malan (14 off 24 balls) added 40 for the first wicket before being out. Harry Brook batted against his Ravindra where he scored an astonishing score of 25 from 16 balls, finishing with 4, 4 and 6 runs.
England brought on Moeen Ali after Brooks’ wicket fell. Moeen has previously finished in the top three in ODI cricket, but not since 2016. However, he has recent experience of batting at number five, once in 2019 (against Pakistan just before the World Cup) and twice in 2022, against South Africa at Old Trafford and against Australia in Melbourne. Ta.
Stokes did not play in the last two matches and after three early wickets fell in both matches (58 and 66 wickets), England promoted Moeen. England scored 201 points and 142 points in his two games.
There are several reasons why Moeen rose to prominence in the opening game of the World Cup. Mitchell Santner, New Zealand’s main spinner, and Ravindra both bowl the ball with the fingers of their left arm, spinning the ball away from the right-hander. Moeen is also considered a powerful and aggressive spin player.
Last month, Stokes scored England’s highest ODI score of 182 against New Zealand at Kia Oval. Malan scored 96 off 95 balls in the same match. Ravindra in his four ODIs of the series he took 7 wickets, but in this match he could not bowl more than two overs due to the good partnership of the two southpaws.
Moeen’s death-over strike rate (between 41 and 50 overs) is an impressive 135, but not as high as Jos Buttler’s 169 or Liam Livingstone’s 161. Saving Butler and Livingston until the end may have played a role in the decision.
As it turned out, New Zealand introduced off-spinner Glenn Phillips shortly after Moeen’s arrival. Until this match, Phillips had bowled only 37 overs in his 20 ODIs, but bowling on the off-break will keep him away from Moeen.
Phillips needed two balls to remove Moeen, his seventh ODI wicket. Butler joined Root and Latham soon invited Santner and Ravindra to bowl together.
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