They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression and in that respect, both England and the Cricket World Cup’s organisers will hope theirs is not a lasting one.
This was a perky start to the tournament on the field at least, a resourceful New Zealand side brushing off injuries to three key men and serving up the dish best served cold. After the barest of margins at Lord’s in 2019 came a hammering in the sequel, the stand-in captain, Tom Latham, marshalling an attack padded out with part-timers before Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra ransacked a target of 283 in only 36.2 overs.
