CWC 2023: New Zealand opt to bowl against England; 41/1 at 8 overs

Ahmedabad: New Zealand skipper Tom Latham won the toss and elected to bowl against defending champions England in the opening match of the ODI World Cup here on Thursday.

Black Caps lost early wicket of David Malan 14 (24b), Jonny Bairstow 24* and Joe Root 3* are building second wicket partnership.

Latham is leading the side with skipper Kane Williamson missing the opening game due to an ongoing knee injury. Lockie Ferguson also missed out due to a niggle, while Ish Sodhi and Tim Southee all miss out.

For England, Ben Stokes missed the game due to a niggle in his hip, while Gus Atkinson, Reece Topley, and David Willey were also left out of the playing XI.

Teams: New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (w/c), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Matt Henry, Mitchell Santner, James Neesham, Trent Boult.

England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (w/c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.