The Cricket World Cup 2023 kicked off at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday with defending champions England facing New Zealand in a repeat of the 2019 final. A lot of excitement surrounded the competition and the organisers were all ready for a full house at the venue. However, the social media was left stunned by the lack of crowd for the tournament opener as barely one fourth of the venue was filled. Users took to social media to post pictures of the empty stands and wondered why the crowd was not present despite massive ticket sales ahead of the Cricket World Cup 2023. England women's cricket team star Danielle Wyatt also expressed her disappointment.
New Zealand skipper Tom Latham won the toss and elected to bowl against defending champions England in the opening match of the ODI Cricket World Cup.
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, 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.
(With PTI inputs)