England face New Zealand in the opening match of ICC Men’s World Cup 2023, at Ahmedabad on October 5. Here is the ENG vs NZ World Cup 2023 match live score and updates, including playing XIs and toss details.

England v New Zealand, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Match 1
October 5, 2023
2pm local time
Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad 

England vs New Zealand, World Cup 2023 Match 1: Toss

Five overs, ENG 26-0: Right, a summary of all that’s happened so far.

The absentees include Williamson, Stokes and Ferguson. Sachin Tendulkar walked out with the trophy in his hand. But the biggest discussion point, evidently, has been the astonishingly low attendance.

Empty seats, not a good sight.

Sorting the schedule and selling the tickets five minutes before the comp has worked out well. #CWC2023 pic.twitter.com/ikluM3QX1F

— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) October 5, 2023

Playing XIs

ENG (Playing XI)

Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (wk, c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

NZ (Playing XI)

Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk, c), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, James Neesham, Matt Henry, Trent Boult

New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl.

Sachin Tendulkar, the World Cup 2023 Global Ambassador, will walk out with the trophy ahead of the match to declare the tournament open. Viv Richards, Muttiah Muralitharan, Mithali Raj, Mohammad Hafeez, Eoin Morgan, Ross Taylor, Aaron Finch and Suresh Raina  are the other ICC ambassadors who will be present.

ENG vs NZ, World Cup 2023 Match 1: Live score

England vs New Zealand, World Cup 2023 Match 1: Team news

The match will be an encore of the 1996 World Cup tournament opener, where the same sides had made at the same venue, albeit before its renovation.

Both Tim Southee and Kane Williamson will miss the match for New Zealand. Williamson, who batted in the warm-up matches, is expected to return soon once his knee heals. Southee, on the other hand, has not bowled in a match since his thumb was dislocated.

England, too, may be without Ben Stokes, who has a hip niggle. They will take a call before the match. If he is ruled out, Harry Brook is the likeliest to replace him.

England vs New Zealand predicted XIs

England: Jos Buttler (c & wk), Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (if injured, then Harry Brook), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley.

New Zealand: Tom Latham (c & wk), Devon Conway, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult.

Match prediction – today’s England-New Zealand live match

A lot has changed since 2019, when the two sides had met in the closest World Cup final of all time. As the world survived a global pandemic, cricket switched towards Twenty20 in the wake of two T20 World Cups and myriad franchise leagues. When teams played ODIs, they often rested key players.

That changed in 2023, when the focus moved back to ODIs, perhaps temporarily. In this year, England have won a series in Bangladesh, while New Zealand lost in both India and Pakistan. Having also beaten New Zealand at home last month, England will hold an edge going into the match.

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