Big blow for New Zealand ahead of World Cup 2023 opener against England

Star New Zealand pacer Tim Southee has been ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 opener against holders England due to an injured thumb, stand-in-skipper Tom Latham said Wednesday.

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The Black Caps will be without regular captain Kane Williamson (knee injury) and Tim Southee (thumb injury) at the tournament’s opening match in the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Kane Williamson played the team’s first ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 warm-up match purely as a batsman and then fielded as well in the second warm-up, but Tim Southee still awaits his first outing in India.

“No Kane and no Tim as well,” Tom Latham told reporters ahead of the opener. “He (Southee) is unavailable for selection. He is recovering nicely, it has been nearly two weeks post-surgery, so fingers crossed he keeps recovering.

“It’s a bit of a day-by-day process. But fingers crossed he’ll be available sooner rather than later as well.”

Tim Southee likely to be ruled out of Opener against England.

– Tom Latham is stand in Captain for New Zealand. (Reports – Times of India). pic.twitter.com/258ayU5yRW

— Jaya Suriyan (@_jayasuriyan_) October 4, 2023

Tim Southee, who dislocated his thumb in a one-day against England more than three weeks ago, underwent surgery and said doctors had to “chuck in some screws and a plate” to boost his chances of playing in the 50-over showpiece event.

The New Zealand pacer played a key role in his team’s runners-up finish in the 2019 edition but missed the dramatic final defeat to hosts England at Lord’s.

‘We can beat anyone’

The Kiwis are still hunting for their first ICC Cricket World Cup title after making eight semi-final appearances in 12 editions. They come into the tournament as the underdogs, with most pundits handing the favourites tag to either India or England.

“We are not focused on what people are predicting; from our point of view we are solely focused on what we have to do. If we can play our brand of cricket in these conditions — which is pretty different to the last two ODI World Cups, in Australia and England,” said Tom Latham.

“If we play to the best of our ability then we are hard to beat on the day,” he added.

Looking sharp in 🖤#CWC23 pic.twitter.com/W9tqBJDqdx

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 1, 2023

New Zealand come in fresh from a 2-0 win over hosts Bangladesh, but lost a four-match ODI series 3-1 to England last month.

“I don’t think it has any bearing on the next game. It’s about turning up on that particular day and trying to play your best brand of cricket. If we play to the best of our ability then we can beat anyone in the world. Conditions are totally different to what we played in England,” said Tom Latham.

Tom Latham said the team is “excited” to open the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, which has a capacity of 132,000.