Latham salutes ‘fantastic’ Black Caps after England demolition

England v New Zealand, Scorecard

Latham’s side demolished defending champions England by nine wickets, restricting a powerful English batting line-up to 282/9, before chasing down the target with 82 balls to spare thanks to Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra’s record stand.

“It was obviously a fantastic performance and we’ve seen a fantastic partnership between Rachin and Devon, but I think it was set up at the start by the bowlers, who did a fantastic job to restrict them to below par on that surface,” captain Latham said.

“The likes of the two seamers, Matt Henry and Trent Boult, did a fantastic job up top. With England you know they’re going to come hard and are going to keep coming hard throughout the whole innings.

“I thought the way we were able to take wickets at crucial times, with guys chipping in when we needed them to and bowled some tough overs and managed to get some rewards. To restrict them to that from the position they were in was outstanding.”

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England’s first innings saw all 11 batters reach double figures for the first time in the history of ODI cricket.

But only Joe Root went beyond 50 in an under-par team effort, with New Zealand’s bowling performance being all-the-more impressive given the injury-hit nature of their team, with both Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee unavailable for this fixture, along with captain Kane Williamson.

And in reply it was one-way traffic after the early loss of Will Young to a strangle down the leg side, with Conway and Ravindra combining for an unbeaten stand of 273 runs, the highest New Zealand partnership on tournament history.

Ravindra’s first ODI century set a new record for his country’s fastest at a 50-over World Cup, coming from just 82 balls and bettering the previous best of 83 balls… set by Conway just a few overs earlier.

England’s seamers took the heaviest of the treatment, with runs flowing at a dramatic rate through the powerplay. But Latham insisted it was a more of a case of playing what was in-front of them, rather than a shift to a boundary-hitting mindset from the New Zealand top order.

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“The best thing was they played good cricket shots, which was the most pleasing thing. They just reacted to what was being bowled, but it certainly wasn’t a plan to come out and play that way," Latham said.

“(Kane Williamson) just said that he’s happy parking up and watching that.”

Special praise was reserved for young Ravindra, who delivered in style after being named at No.3 for the first time in an ODI.

“He played a fantastic innings and we’re super proud of him and the way he’s come out,” Latham said. “It’s his first ODI in that position and we’re looking forward to getting around him tonight.”

And the man himself was happy to share the praise with his batting partner after picking up the Player of the Match award.

“It was great to have a great day out,” Ravindra said. The bowlers bowled really well to restrict them to 280, and luckily enough I had Devon out there to show me how to do it which was pretty cool.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with Dev, we’re close mates. It’s very special to be able to see that moment with him and spend so much time at the crease with him, which probably helped and meant I was a little bit more comfortable than I could have been.”