Follow UsIn the history of the Cricket World Cup, only once has a host nation not featured on the very first day of the competition. That was back in 1996, when England and New Zealand faced-off at the (then) Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.
27 years on, history is all set to repeat itself at the very same venue as England and New Zealand brace to kick-start the 2023 edition of the Mega Event. It's the first time this century that the curtain-raiser of a 50-over World Cup will not be featuring the host nation.
It’s been exactly 1,574 days since these two sides faced off at Lord’s in what was unquestionably the greatest World Cup final ever and in the four years that have gone by, the rivalry has steadily grown. In Abu Dhabi two years ago, the Black Caps avenged the 2019 heartbreak by knocking England out of the T20 World Cup and in Australia last year, the Three Lions hit back.
The two sides have had a right go at each other in the longest format too. There’s been a Kiwi series win in England, an English whitewash which marked the start of the Bazball era, and most recently, a nail-biter at the Basin Reserve in which the Black Caps came out on top to tie the series 1-1.
It’s a rivalry that’s been tantalizingly close, and that is precisely why there’ll be no ‘favorite’ heading into Thursday’s clash.
It was only last month that Jos Buttler’s side bested the Black Caps 3-1 in a four-match ODI series but England, of all teams, will know that when it comes to World Cups, this New Zealand side is different gravy.
Things to watch out for
Boult & Henry vs England’s top-order
Thursday’s clash has plenty of sub-plots but none bigger and more important than the battle between England’s top-order and New Zealand’s new-ball bowlers. Since 2020, both Matt Henry and Trent Boult have been among the most potent new-ball bowlers in ODI cricket and last month, they showed the Three Lions batters just what they’re capable of.
The pair opened the bowling together in two of the four ODIs and across those games, bowled 13 overs and took 6 wickets at an average of 10, conceding just 60 runs.
At The Rose Bowl, they had England teetering at 28/4 after 7.2 overs, the duo accounting for the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Harry Brook.
The curtain-raiser could just end up being defined by how England’s batters fare against Henry and Boult.
READ: Matt Henry: underrated, under-appreciated new-ball behemoth
Considering Ahmedabad, of late, has offered seamers plenty of assistance up-front, the defending champions will have their work cut-out. Especially with two of their top three — Bairstow & Root — entering Thursday’s clash with no runs under their belt.
Who replaces Kane Williamson in the New Zealand XI?
Kane Williamson scored 91 runs across the two warm-up games without being dismissed, but has already confirmed he will not be taking part in the England clash due to not being 100% fit. This leaves a gaping hole in the batting line-up that the Kiwis will have to fill.
With Conway, Young, Mitchell, Latham and Phillips all seemingly looking like locks, it might just come down to Rachin Ravindra vs Mark Chapman for the final spot. It’s a good headache for the Kiwis, for both the left-handers are in good touch: while Ravindra struck a whirlwind 97 (72) in Hyderabad against Pakistan, Chapman scored 85 runs across the two warm-ups off just 61 balls.
Ultimately, it might just come down to the area that the Black Caps will want to beef up. While Ravindra will add to the depth of the spin department (alongside Santner/Phillips), Chapman will provide more solidity to the batting. The 29-year-old, it is worth noting, can also roll his arm over.
Considering Ahmedabad has, of late, been a wicket that’s been kinder to the pacers and batters, the Black Caps might just lean towards selecting Chapman, the more established batter.
Ground Details
In the last 5 years, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad has hosted just three ODIs, all three coming in the same series between India and West Indies last year. That series proved to be a low-scoring one dominated by pace: the average first innings score was just 226 and pacers took 33 of the 51 wickets to fall, at an average of 21.3.
It’s been the same case with recent List A games played at this venue too.
Since 2022, 7 List A games have been played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, and in them, the average score has just been 217, with there being no scores over 275. In these games, pacers have accounted for 70.5% of the wickets and have averaged just 23.6 compared to spinners’ 35.8.
It’s also been a chasing wicket, with 5/7 matches being won by the team batting second.
Come Thursday, expect plenty of help for the speedsters.
Tactical Nous
> Trent Boult is New Zealand’s trump card for Thursday. He’s dismissed England’s Top 4 a combined 13 times in ODIs, dismissing all of Bairstow (4), Root (5) and Stokes (3) at least thrice. He’s taken 27 wickets in 14 appearances against England and has failed to take at least two wickets in an innings just 4 times (out of 14).
> In ODIs since 2022, New Zealand’s average (28.6) and balls per wicket (29.9) against left-arm pace is the worst for them against any bowling type. In the recently-concluded four-match ODI series against England, they lost 41% of their wickets to left-arm seamers despite left-armers bowling only 38% of the overs. There’s thus huge incentive for England to pick two of Reece Topley, Sam Curran and David Willey in their XI.
Team News and Probable XIs
New Zealand will be without skipper Kane Williamson for Thursday’s clash. They will also be without Tim Southee, who is recovering from a thumb injury.
New Zealand likely XI: Will Young, Devon Conway (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Tom Latham (capt), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson.
Jos Buttler confirmed in the pre-match press conference that Ben Stokes is carrying a hip niggle and could potentially sit out Thursday's clash. Should Stokes not recover in time, Harry Brook will take his spot in the XI.
England likely XI: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes / Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali/Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley.