England and New Zealand are set to reignite their storied rivalry on October 5 as the two cricketing giants will lock horns in a day-night spectacle at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium, marking the beginning of the 2023 ICC World Cup. Nearly three decades ago, these two teams found themselves on the same ground for a World Cup opener.
History whispers in the wind of Ahmedabad, recounting the 1996 Wills World Cup. At what was then known as the Sardar Patel Stadium, New Zealand triumphed over England by a slim margin of 11 runs.
There have been 95 ODIs between England and New Zealand so far. Since England have defeated New Zealand 45 times while the Kiwis have won it 44 times, the outcome is fairly matched. There were no results on four separate times. There were ties in two of those games.
These two sides competed against one another in the 2019 ICC World Cup final, which resulted in a tie. England won the title using the boundary count-back rule after the Super Over, which also finished in a tie.
Jos Buttler (Wicketkeeper), Devon Conway, JE Root (C), Liam Livingstone (if Ben Stokes is ruled out), Tom Latham (VC), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, AU Rashid, Trent Boult, Mark Wood and LH Ferguson.
The pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium will be beneficial to bowlers. Captains who win the toss typically decide to bowl first over here. It can be challenging for the batters when pacers, in particular, enjoy some seam and swing especially at the beginning of the pitch. The average first innings score is 212.
Ahmedabad is expected to be hot and humid on October 5, with temperatures likely to soar as high as 35 degrees and humidity rising up to 73%. As per Weather.com, there is little chance of rain.
England are coming to the tournament in all likelihood to vigorously defend their title as world champions. As per Google’s win probability, there is a 64% chance that England will be victorious in this match. We, too, believe that Jos Buttler’s boys will start the 2023 ICC World Cup with a victory. Publications like myKhel and CricTracker have also predicted the same.
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