New Zealand sprung a surprise at the toss of the 2023 World Cup opener as stand-in captain Tom Latham unveiled an extremely batting-heavy XI.

The Black Caps’ options coming into the game were limited as three of their 15-man squad – Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson – were unavailable for selection due to injury. Still though, they opted to go with a more batting-heavy XI with Mark Chapman and Rachin Ravindra preferred to the specialist leg-spin of Ish Sodhi despite the 30-year-old taking 6-39 in an ODI against Bangladesh as recently as two weeks ago.

This combination left Chapman carded in at No. 7, with all-rounders Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner slated to come in at eight and nine. Neesham and Santner batted at six and eight respectively in the 2019 World Cup final. England opted for a similarly batting-heavy balance, preferring the all-round offering of Sam Curran over the specialist left-arm seam of Reece Topley.

New Zealand’s approach meant that they had just three frontline bowlers in Matt Henry, Trent Boult and Santner, with the other 20 overs needing to be filled by the all-round options of Neesham, Ravindra, Chapman, Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell.

Harry Brook falls with a left-arm spinner bowling > England promote Moeen Ali > New Zealand bring part-time off-spinner Glenn Phillips into the attack > Moeen falls

An intriguing tactical battle in the #CWC23 opener.https://t.co/RLWcsEa7Qi

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) October 5, 2023

That combination of bowling options led to an intriguing early exchange that saw Latham solely use the specialist options of Henry, Boult and Santner in the opening 15 overs. On a good surface accompanied by a rapid outfield, England reached the 15-over mark on 73-2 with the knowledge that Henry, Boult and Santner could only bowl 15 of the remaining 35 overs.

England’s increase in intent when the all-rounders came on was noticeable. Brook punched Neesham’s first ball through cover for four before unleashing what threatened to be a brutal assault on Ravindra. After welcoming Ravindra into the attack, Brook pulled Ravindra for back-to-back fours before depositing a long hop into the stands for six. England’s No. 4 attempted to repeat the trick the following delivery only to find the man at deep mid-wicket to gift Ravindra an early scalp.

With the left-arm spinner in operation, England promoted Moeen Ali up to No.5. Latham responded by switching part-timers, this time introducing off-spinner Glenn Phillips. Moeen missed a pull shot and departed for 11. England looked to really take on New Zealand’s change options and overcompensated, leaving them four wickets down in the first 22 overs. However, that particularly aggressive approach towards the change bowlers was potentially a tactic that England could afford given their own batting depth with Woakes and Curran carded to come in at eight and nine.

Buttler and Root then rebuilt the England innings through the middle overs, untroubled against the change bowlers, and Latham took another gamble. He reintroduced his strike bowlers in an attempt to prise out an important wicket at the expense of leaving his side potentially vulnerable at the death. It was another ploy that worked as the returning Henry dismissed the dangerous and well-set Buttler for 43, and Boult dismissed Livingstone in the 39th over.

That brought the left-handed Sam Curran to the crease. Again, Phillips’ part-time off-spin came back and again it worked, though perhaps not as anticipated. Root went for a reverse shot, missed, and was bowled. New Zealand had four overs of Boult and Henry for the death, and with England’s last-wicket pair at the crease, the World Cup holders had to settle for ticking over the strike to get up to 282-9. Fourteen runs off the last over, bowled by Neesham, showed what might have been, had England had more batting firepower in reserve.

Both sides’ batting-heavy selections meant for a fascinating game of cat and mouse, each side trying to second-guess the other.

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