ENG vs NZ, WC 2023: Head-to-Head Record, Stats, and Pitch History at Narendra Modi Stadium

The most awaited ICC ODI World Cup 2023 is all set to begin with the defending champions, England taking on the finalist of 2019 World Cup New Zealand in the tournament opener on 5^th of October 2023 at the world’s largest stadium, Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

England, the defending champions will be coming into the contest on the back of series win over New Zealand recently and a warm up win over Bangladesh. Dawid Malan topped the batting with 277 runs in 3 games at an average of 92.33 while Ben Stokes aggregated 235 runs at an average of 78.33 in which he smashed 182 runs in one off the game, recording the highest score by an English batter in ODIs. In the bowling department, Moeen Ali picked up 7 wickets in three games and Reece Topley picked up 5 wickets in four games. Liam Livingstone was all-round in the series with 186 runs with bat and 4 wickets with the ball. England will look to start the World Cup on a positive note.

New Zealand, on the other hand, will be heading into the opener on the back of 2-0 win against Bangladesh while they defeated South Africa and Pakistan in Warm up games too. Daryl Mitchell has been their go-to batter as far as 2023 is concerned as he has so far aggregated 652 runs in 16 innings in 2023 at an average of 43.46 with three centuries to his name, while Will Young has accounted for 578 runs in 14 innings at an average of 44.46. In the bowling department, Matt Henry has picked 14 wickets while Ish Sodhi and Rachin Ravindra have accounted for 13 and 12 wickets respectively. Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the first game owing to knee injury while Tim Southee is doubtful due to finger injury.   Ravindra was promoted to open in the warm-ups, he scored a brisk 97 runs against Pakistan to help NZ chase 343 with this knock he has also given the headache for selection panel. Tom Latham is expected to lead the side in Williamson’s absence. The Kiwi’s too will look to start the World Cup with a win.

England vs New Zealand Head-to-Head in ODIs:

In as many as 95 games between the two teams, the contest is even-steven with both teams winning 44 games and losing 44 games. Three games including 2019 World Cup finals has ended in tie while four games have not yielded results.

Matches Played	England Won	New Zealand Won	Tied	NR
95	44	44	3	4

ODI Stats at Narendra Modi Stadium:

In an overall of 26 games played here at this venue, the pacers have the upper-hand with 211 wickets at an average of 32.55 while spin bowlers have picked 113 wickets with average of 39.38. 14 out of 26 games have been won by teams batting first while teams chasing has won 12 games. Average first batting score at this venue is 242. Teams winning toss have preferred to bat first owing to the slowness of the pitch in the later part.

Matches Played	26
Won Batting First	14
Won Batting Second	12
Average First Innings Score	242
Highest Team Totals	365
Lowest team Totals	85
Match Won after winning toss	15
Match Won after losing toss	11
Highest Successful Chase	325

The Battle of bigs to watch out for

Tom Latham vs Moeen Ali:

In a total of seven innings played between the two players, Moeen Ali has picked Latham thrice in 68 balls while Tom Latham has scored 54 runs at an average of 18. This battle would tempt Buttler to go with Moeen Ali for a long spell in middle overs.

Jonny Bairstow vs Trent Boult:

Both the players have met on 9 innings, with Boult picking four wickets in 112 balls while Bairstow has managed to score 81 runs at an average of 20.25. 54 out of 81 runs have come in boundaries for Bairstow which is 66.67% of runs. Bairstow has the tendency to score runs in boundaries than singles and would be expected to do the same in this contest and hence either of early wicket or high run scoring can be expected.

X-Factors for England vs New Zealand:

New Zealand:

Daryl Mitchell is the X-factor for New Zealand against England. Mitchell has been prime form with the bat in 2023 scoring 652 runs at an average of over 43 including three centuries. In the recently concluded series against England, Mitchell aggregated 196 runs at an average of 65.33. In addition to his batting, he has also picked up 9 wickets in 7 innings at an average of 21.33. The all-round ability put together makes Mitchell the X-factor.

England:

For England against New Zealand, Ben Stokes is the X-factor as he has accounted for 661 runs at an average of 55.08 with four fifties and one century. He recently scored 182 against NZ. The ability to take the middle order single-handedly makes him the X-factor.

ENG vs NZ Probable XIs:

New Zealand:

Devon Conway, Will Young, Mark Chapman, Tom Latham (c/wk), Glenn Philiips, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry/Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult.

England:

Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (c/wk), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran/ Reece Topley, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood