New Zealand opener Devon Conway.
Credit: Reuters Photo
New Zealand opener Devon Conway feels other teams in the World Cup will draw their lessons from the Kiwis' thumping nine-wicket win over England in a one-sided tournament opener played here on Thursday.
Conway smashed 19 fours and three sixes to make 152 not out from 121 balls while adding 273 runs unbeaten to turn the tables on ultra-aggressive England, unleashing an onslaught in company of Rachin Ravindra (123 not out) as the Kiwis recorded a huge win.
"It gave us success, I think everyone is going to do their scouting. I am sure they will probably take some scouting in their games when they play against England. We will have to see what happens," Conway told the media here after the game.
The left-handed opener said New Zealand got the better conditions to bat on under lights.
"We were fortunate to get the best of conditions — it certainly was a bit better under lights in the evening," Conway said.
"It allowed us to have a bit of strokeplay, we are grateful that we were able to capitalise," he added.
Conway said Rachin's knock will help him grow in confidence.
"It was absolutely incredible. I am so glad that I was there at the non-striker's end to watch that innings unfold," he said.
"He is a close friend of mine, so super chuffed for him for the success, the hard work that he has put in and the opportunity (that) he has got is brilliant. That will help him grow in confidence each day," Conway said.
Conway said taking on Mark Wood, who looked to attack New Zealand batters with short balls, worked well for them.
"I know that Mark Wood generally bowls (with) an aggressive plan to any batter so it did not shock me," he said.
"The beauty of that is that it provides a (little) bit of scoring opportunities, so thankfully, I was able to get one away."
"The surface certainly helped me throughout, it was not as quick as previous surfaces. The opportunity to score off those short balls was good for us batters," said the New Zealand opener.
Conway reiterated that adapting to conditions will be the key going deeper in this World Cup.
"Each ground is different, we certainly know that it can be batter-friendly here," he said.
"We just got to adapt, we play in Chennai soon which I am excited for. I know that can be a bit more turning surface. We just have to adapt whenever we go to different grounds," said Conway, who plays for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.
New Zealand pacer Matt Henry, who took three wickets, said the bowlers deserved credit for restricting England to a small total.
"We had understood that it was going to be a good surface, restricting England to as little as we could was something, as a bowling group, (is) what you are trying to achieve," Henry said.
He added, "We managed to take wickets at crucial times and put England under some pressure when they were obviously putting us under pressure in different periods."
Henry hoped the win would bring about a fresh wave of confidence in the New Zealand camp.
"It is a long tournament, there is a lot of cricket to be played," he said.
"Coming into the game No 1, you obviously want to do as best as you can (and) to be able to have, I suppose, a great performance like that at the start of the tournament gives the guys a lot of confidence moving forward," Henry said.
"But we also understand that every game is going to produce different challenges, so we will be looking to adapt every time we come to play a game," he added.
Henry praised Conway and Rachin Ravindra for dictating the pace of the game.
"Regardless of what total is put out there, to be able to (go with) the way that Rachin and Dev (Devon Conway) scored those runs, the way they were able to put pressure on the bowlers and kind of dictate the pace of play, was truly something great to watch," he said.
England pacer Wood, who gave away 55 runs in his five overs, said his side was not up for the challenge against New Zealand.
"I think it (pitch) got better. I do not want to use it as an excuse, but we were not up for it," Wood said.
Wood said bowling a fuller length was not the best plan as a bowler.
"I thought when I went full, I got driven, especially on the first ball of the over a lot of times which was disappointing," he said.
"I know Matt Henry got the movement but I did not, so I tried. I felt the best way to get a wicket was (through) a pull shot or top edge," he said.
Wood added, "It was disappointing for me personally but we got beaten by the better team at the end."