World Cup 2023: England vs New Zealand Preview – The rivalry resumes

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will finally get underway as England and New Zealand lock horns in the curtain raiser on Thursday, October 05 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Notably, the two teams also played the historic final of the 2019 World Cup at Lord’s where England emerged victorious by the ‘barest of all margins’, winning on the back of the ever-so-contentious boundary count rule, which no longer remains a part of the World Cup system.

Both teams are coming into the game in top form as New Zealand registered victories in both their warm-up fixtures against Pakistan and South Africa. On the other hand, England beat Bangladesh by four wickets in their warm-up game. The two teams recently met in a four-match ODI series ahead of the World Cup where England emerged victorious by 3-1.

Ahead of the start of the fixture, injury concerns loom large in both camps as New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and seamer Tim Southee have been ruled out of the opening game. On the other hand, star England all-rounder Ben Stokes is also likely to miss out on the curtain-raiser due to a hip injury. Hence, both teams will miss their star players for the all-important game and will need to find proper replacements.

Pitch Report

There have been a total of 26 ODIs played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, out of which 14 matches have been won by teams batting first. The average first innings score in the last five ODIs has been 242 while the highest target chased at the venue is 325. However, in recent times the pitch has been a belter to bat on and hence a high-scoring game can be expected. The captain winning the toss will look to bat first and make the most of the good batting conditions.

Probable Playing XI: