Chasing a mammoth 389 runs vs Australia’s bowling including the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh and the spinners Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell, if only New Zealand got close to the target, it’s all thanks to a brilliant inning by a 23-years-old Rachin Ravindra, who is making his World Cup debut.
After a carnage launched by the opening duo of David Warner and Travis Head, Australia, riding on some fireworks from lower-order batters Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins, put 388 runs for the loss of 10 wickets on the board, setting the Kiwis a 389 runs target.
In ODI cricket, that ain’t the easiest of target even for the greatest teams of the game, but New Zealand came close and really close, all thanks to a 23-years-old Rachin Ravindra, who played an extraordinary inning of 116 runs from 89 balls with a strike rate of 130.
But New Zealand kept losing wickets from one end and despite individual fifties from Glenn Phillips and Jimmy Neesham, New Zealand fell short by 5 runs against Australia.
But this match has certainly established Rachin Ravindra as a huge prospect for the New Zealand cricket team. When we talk about New Zealand, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor or Kane Williamson are the batters’ same most people would remember as of latest, but Rachin Ravindra could be an addition to that.
Rachin has an interesting story behind his name. The name is build-up of two legends of Indian cricket, one is literally called as the God of Cricket, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. Most interestingly, the batter is of Indian origin with his father a native Indian from Bengaluru who later moved to the New Zealand.
Meanwhile, after his fabulous performance today, Rachin Ravindra now finds his name alongside the great Sachin Tendulkar. His century today was the 2nd century in this ODI World Cup 2023, thus equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s record of scoring 2 centuries in their debut World Cup. Other than that, Rachin also touched on 400 total runs in this World Cup, once again equalling Sachin’s record for scoring 400 or more runs in their debut World Cup.
