The ICC Cricket World Cup gets going in Ahmedabad in India on Thursday and we take a look at the opening game between England and New Zealand from a betting angle.

This is a repeat of the 2019 Final which England won in dramatic fashion with the teams not separated after a Super Over resulting in a count back to boundaries scored.

OUTRIGHT BETTING UPDATE

There are plenty of long-term markets available on the World Cup and looking at the main one which is who will win the Tournament, India are trading at 2/1 and England at 7/2, Australia 9/2, Pakistan 8/1, South Africa 9/1, and New Zealand are priced at 10/1.

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ENGLAND

England’s last ODI against Ireland was a no result, but prior to that they had won 4 in a row and 7 of their last 9 ODI’s including coming from behind to beat New Zealand 3-1 at home in a 4 match series in September.

Jos Buttler captains the side, brimming with talent and aggression and a good mixture of youth and experience.

England 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

NEW ZEALAND

After losing the 4 match series 3-1 in England, New Zealand travelled to Bangladesh where they won a 3 match series 2-0 after the first ODI was a no result.  They had comfortable victories in the next two, winning by 86 runs and 7 wickets.

Kane Williamson captains the side that also looks to have plenty of potential and they are often a side where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

New Zealand 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

HEAD-TO-HEAD

That series in England was the first time the sides had met in ODI cricket since England had won the 2019 World Cup Final and England also won the group match by 119 runs.  New Zealand have won only 3 of their last 14 ODI’s against England.

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BETTING – Click here to bet

England 40/85

New Zealand 33/20

I am not going to get involved in the match results, but will look at some of the Exotic Markets for my betting action.

Suggested Bet:  England Top Bowler, Mark Wood at 23/10

Wood’s introduction to the Ashes Series showed how difficult it is to play true speed and he is a man that I think will lead the England charge and get plenty of wickets in this Tournament.

Suggested Bet:  New Zealand Top Batter, Devon Conway at 9/4

I have been impressed with Conway of late and he is my selection to be the Top Batsman in the World Cup at a juicy price of 16/1 and I am hoping he gets off to a good start by banking me some top New Zealand batter earnings here.

Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change