The 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup organisers could not have asked for a better opening match than the one we are about to witness, England vs. New Zealand.
Defending champions England take on New Zealand in Thursday’s ICC World Cup opening match. It is a rematch of their epic showdown in the 2019 final at Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John.
The final ended in a tie after the match ended with both teams scoring 241 runs, followed by the first Super Over in an ODI; England won the title, their first, on the boundary countback rule after the Super Over also finished level.
New Zealand are coming into this major opener on a backfoot. The Black Caps will be without regular captain Kane Williamson who is out due to knee and thumb injuries.
The tournament’s opening match occurs in India’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
Meanwhile, England’s batter Ben Stokes could miss the Cricket World Cup opener because of a hip issue.
New Zealand could do with Ben Stokes not making it to England’s starting lineup. Benjamin Andrew Stokes is a New Zealander by birth, born in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand.
ALSO READ: Saudi Arabia sets its sights on ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
How it works
The World Cup starts with a “round-robin” stage where the ten teams play each other once. A victory earns two points, and the top four teams go through to the semi-finals.
The first-place team will play the side finishing fourth, with second and third place playing each other. The winners of each semi-final will meet in the final on 19 November.
The host nation and winners of the 1983 and 2011 tournaments, India, are considered the team to beat. Current holders England are also strong contenders, with five-time winners Australia and Pakistan the other countries tipped to lift the World Cup.
The giant Elephant in the room is the absence of the team that won the first-ever Cricket World Cup – West Indies.
This shows how much things have progressed in the development of cricket in the Caribbean.
Unlike Sir Clive Lloyd, who achieved the feat of winning the inaugural and second Cricket World Cup in 1975 and 1979. He is arguably one of the greatest captains of both Tests and ODIs.
Under his captaincy, the star-studded West Indies team was filled with unparalleled talents who remained the best at their trade for a long time.
As the opening ceremony is about to get underway in Ahmedabad in the next few hours, the attention will be on the only two BRICS cricket Nations, South Africa and India.
ALSO READ: SA20 season two is back on the 10th of January 2024
