England opener Jonny Bairstow made history on Thursday as he became the first batter to hit a six as the first scoring shot of an ICC World Cup.
Bairstow hit a six off the second ball of the first over bowled by Trent Boult to get England and the ODI World Cup 2023 off the mark in style.
Boult delivered a full delivery swinging into the right-handed batter on leg-stump which Bairstow simply flicked over the fine leg fence for the maximum result.
England got off to a decent start but lost the momentum once Matt Henry removed Dawid Malan for 14 to draw first blood for New Zealand.
Bairstow meanwhile, was looking in good touch but fell against the run of play against Mitchell Santner for 33 off 35 balls as England reached 64 for 2 in 12.5 overs.
This happened after New Zealand captain Tom Latham won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Long injury list in World Cup opener
England are missing the services of Ben Stokes in this match due to a hip niggle while the Blackcaps had to leave out Kane Williamson, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson due to injuries.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (w/c), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Matt Henry, Mitchell Santner, James Neesham, Trent Boult
England (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(w/c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
