Cricket World Cup 2023: Resurgent New Zealand meet formidable England in opener

The 2019 finalists England and New Zealand will begin their campaigns at the World's biggest Cricket Stadium to kick off the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on Friday.

Ahmedabad: Defending champions England and last edition's runners-up New Zealand will take next-level rivalry as they meet each other in the opening match of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 which begins at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

• Ready to entertain 🙌
  Here to retain 🏆
  Let's go! 💪#CWC23 🌍 #EnglandCricket 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/KFcKDzYF6i

  — England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 4, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  Ready to entertain 🙌
  Here to retain 🏆
  Let's go! 💪#CWC23 🌍 #EnglandCricket 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/KFcKDzYF6i

  — England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 4, 2023

  ">

  Ready to entertain 🙌
  Here to retain 🏆
  Let's go! 💪#CWC23 🌍 #EnglandCricket 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/KFcKDzYF6i

  — England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 4, 2023

This opening match of the World Cup will be a rematch of the ICC World Cup 2019 final that saw England lifting a trophy on the most boundaries scored in the 50 over innings basis after the match and a super over ended up in a tie.

New Zealand will be missing captain Kane Williamson in the first match as he has not fully recovered from the injury. In his absence, Tom Latham will be leading the Kiwi's side. England will miss their match-winner Ben Stokes in the opening clash as he is suffering from a hip niggle. Jos Buttler, who became the captain of England's white-ball team after Eoin Morgan's retirement will be leading the England side.

• A number of big names are all set to miss the Cricket World Cup opener 👀
  
  Details 👉https://t.co/DJsBlGtp17#CWC23 #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/QDeyyytalt

  — ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 4, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  A number of big names are all set to miss the Cricket World Cup opener 👀
  
  Details 👉https://t.co/DJsBlGtp17#CWC23 #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/QDeyyytalt

  — ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 4, 2023

  ">

  A number of big names are all set to miss the Cricket World Cup opener 👀
  
  Details 👉https://t.co/DJsBlGtp17#CWC23 #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/QDeyyytalt

  — ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 4, 2023

• Two big names have already been ruled out of the @cricketworldcup opener between England and New Zealand and another is in doubt less than 24 hours out from the massive #CWC23 clash 😲
  
  Details👇https://t.co/VE4zn424Vs

  — ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 4, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  Two big names have already been ruled out of the @cricketworldcup opener between England and New Zealand and another is in doubt less than 24 hours out from the massive #CWC23 clash 😲
  
  Details👇https://t.co/VE4zn424Vs

  — ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 4, 2023

  ">

  Two big names have already been ruled out of the @cricketworldcup opener between England and New Zealand and another is in doubt less than 24 hours out from the massive #CWC23 clash 😲
  
  Details👇https://t.co/VE4zn424Vs

  — ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 4, 2023

It will be a clash between New Zealand's star-studded batting against England's aggressive batting unit that consists of Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, and Jos Buttler. It will be interesting to see who will replace Ben Stokes in the squad for England and what will be the combination for New Zealand in the absence of captain Williamson.

New Zealand will hope to win the title that has avoided them in the previous two finals while England will look to defend the title and enter into the elite club along with the West Indies and Australia, who defended their title successfully previously.

• 𝟭𝟬 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀. 𝟭 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹 🏆#CWC23 | #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/ivQ0lsT9mp

  — BCCI (@BCCI) October 4, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  𝟭𝟬 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀. 𝟭 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹 🏆#CWC23 | #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/ivQ0lsT9mp

  — BCCI (@BCCI) October 4, 2023

  ">

  𝟭𝟬 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀. 𝟭 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹 🏆#CWC23 | #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/ivQ0lsT9mp

  — BCCI (@BCCI) October 4, 2023

Earlier, on October 04, in the captains' day press conference, Indian captain Rohit Sharma gave a very humorous answer to a question asked by a journalist. A journalist asked Rohit about the 2019 World Cup final between England and New Zealand, and Rohit said, "Kya yaar! It’s not my job to decide that.” His witty reply left other captains and journalists in stitches, showcasing his ability to handle even the trickiest of questions with a smile.

The match between New Zealand and England will start at 2 pm IST. The toss is scheduled at 1:30 pm IST.