The first match in ICC Cricket World Cup is a repeat of the 2019 final as defending champions England take on New Zealand in Ahmedabad
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
England
Latest outright odds
To win the tournament 3.15/1 with Betway
Top England Batsman Dawid Malan at 5/2
Top England Bowler Adil Rashid at 2.65/1
Squad:
Jos Buttler (c), Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Reece Topley, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson
World Cup Form
England were the host nation in 2019 and they won 6 and lost 3 of their 9 round robin matches before a comfortable semi final win over Australia. The final against New Zealand went to a Super Over which also finished tied and England were declared winners on a superior boundary count. That was a first CWC title for England who had previously finished runners up on 3 occasions.
Recent Form
England hosted New Zealand in a 4 match series last month which they won 3-1. Play was only possible in 1 of 3 matches scheduled against Ireland which England won by 48 runs and a warm up game against India last weekend was completely washed out.
New Zealand
Latest outright odds
To win the tournament 9.8/1 with Betway
Top New Zealand Batsman Devin Conway at 9/4
Top New Zealand Bowler Trent Boult at 1.75/1
Squad:
Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (vc,wk), Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young
World Cup Form
New Zealand squeezed into the semi finals in 2019 with 5 wins, 3 defeats and 1 no result against their name. They upset India in the semi's and came oh so close to landing a first CWC title. New Zealand were also runners up (to Australia) in 2015.
Recent Form
Last month New Zealand won the opening match of a 4 match series in England but lost each of the next 3. The Black Caps then won in Bangladesh 2-0 and most recently they saw off Pakistan by 5 wickets in a warm up match.
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 95 times with England winning 44 to New Zealand's 44 with 3 ties and 4 no results
The Betting
England are currently trading at around 9/20 to win the game and New Zealand can be backed at around 1.63/1
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
England had the wood over New Zealand in the series (in England) last month. Conditions will likely be different here though and the Black Caps at least managed to get a full hit out in their warm up match.
I'll look to the NZ top bat markets and side with Daryl Mitchell. The England top bat market looks very competitive so I will look to their bowlers and Reece Topley gets my vote to fare best of the England attack.
Bets: Top NZ Bet Daryl Mitchell at 3/1 with Betway
Top England Bowler Reece Topley at 9/4 with Betway
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
Discussion Forum
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