The six-week long Cricket World Cup starts on Thursday, with a re-run of the 2019 final. England take on New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with a 9.30am start. We’ve previewed the fixture and given you our best bets for the occasion… 

England (4/9) come into this Cricket World Cup in pretty good shape ahead of their title defence and will be confident they can go back-to-back.

Of course, confidence has never been an issue for this new-look England side under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes in the Tests and Matthew Mott and Jos Buttler in the white-ball formats. They play a fearless, all-in brand of cricket that is so polar-opposite to the old England ODI sides of yesteryear.

The side is chock full of powerful hitters, who can comfortably clear the boundary rope and in Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Chris Woakes, Reece Topley and David Willey, they have a mixture of pace, swing and right/left armers.

This will be the last chance saloon at the World Cup for several of these players, who are entering their mid-thirties but National Selector Luke Wright has shown no hesitation in making the tough decisions, dropping the veteran Jason Roy for the new upstart, Harry Brook.

For New Zealand (17/10), this is an early chance at redemption –  not just for 2019 and all that comes with that (the Ben Stokes overthrow, super overs and ICC rules), yet also a chance to gain revenge for the recent 3-1 ODI series loss at the hands of England, just a few weeks ago.

The Black Caps finished top of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League table, which formed the qualification process for this tournament, so they are, in theory, the most consistent 50-over side over the last 24 months.

The 9-game round robin nature of this group stage means that a loss here wouldn’t be disastrous to either side, however, both teams will be desperate to get some early momentum in this six-week long tournament.

Team news

Matthew Mott and England skipper Buttler will have some difficult decisions to make ahead of this opener, primarily in the bowling department. Ben Stokes’ inclusion in a batter-only capacity has weakened the middle order and could mean the Three Lions will be a bowler light. It looks likely they will go with Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Reece Topley, with Willey and Atkinson missing out.

Elsewhere there could be a straight decision between Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook. The Lancashire man’s prowess with the ball might just swing it his way.

England (from): Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes

Captain Kane Williamson proved his return to full fitness with a half century against Pakistan in the warm up matches and he will be a huge boon for the side throughout those difficult middle-overs. Another wily old veteran Trent Boult is back in the side and will be a huge threat with the new ball.

New Zealand (from): Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young

England to win, have highest first 15 overs and hit most sixes – 13/8

As proven in the recent 3-1 series win, England have too much firepower for this New Zealand side and won the last three matches by a combined 360 runs!

Their top order is more dynamic with Bairstow and Malan going at it from ball one and hit considerably more sixes.

They walloped 31 maximums to 16 in the four match series in England.

Trent Boult top New Zealand wicket taker – 12/5

The left-handed seamer had the number of a selection of England’s top order in that same series, taking 8/88 from his two outings.

Boult swings the new Kookaburra ball back into the right hander prodigiously and away from Malan and Stokes’ outside edge.

The 34-year-old is my top for top overall tournament wicket taker and I think he will get off to a good start here.