The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 opener between England and New Zealand, check out the pitch report, weather forecast details and more below for tomorrow
The highly anticipated tournament opener between the two powerhouses will take place on Thursday, October 5.
Narendra Modi Stadium Ahmedabad pitch report, weather on 5 October and ODI records ahead of ENG vs NZ Cricket World Cup 2023
Narendra Modi Stadium 🏟 is ready to host World Cup opener #ENGvNZ
Tomorrow 🔥🔥🔥#RohitSharma𓃵 #NeerajChopra #Cheer4India #IndiaAtAsianGames #JavelinThrow Virat Kohli #icccricketworldcup2023#IssBaar100Paar Ahmedabadpic.twitter.com/rZHkObkSje— king_kohli_FanClub (@RavindraNain29) October 4, 2023
Captain's posing with the World Cup trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium. pic.twitter.com/zHXfx6DaOR
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 4, 2023
The ICC ODI World Cup 2023 begins this week, featuring 10 teams across a single round-robin format and with the four finalists heading into the semi-finals.
ENG vs NZ match preview
Going into the match, the Jos Buttler-led England have had just one warm up match so far. Meanwhile the New Zealand team led by Tom Latham, have already played two warm up games heading. England’s warm up match came against India, which got washed out due to rain. However, England got a 37-over game against Bangladesh in their second match, which also got washed out due to rain in Guwahati. England managed to win by 4 wickets, eventually chasing down 197 (DLS).
On the other hand, New Zealand played a full 50-over match against Pakistan in Hyderabad. However, they played a shortened game against South Africa in Tiruvananthapuram. The Kiwis managed to win both their warm up matches with regular skipper Williamson performing well in the middle order.
Ahmedabad weather forecast on October 5
Despite most parts of the country experiencing showers, reports indicate no threat of rain in Ahmedabad on Thursday October 5. The forecast report on the day of the ENG vs NZ game, shows a very warm day with a maximum temperature of 36° C. However, the temperature will slowly reduce to 28° C during the night.
Although there is no threat of rain, captains and bowlers of both teams will be wary of the dew factor. The dew is expected to arrive late in the evening of the matchday, during the second innings. According to other reports, the ground staff are all set to use the ASPA80 anti-dew spray on the morning of the match if the need arises.
Narendra Modi Stadium pitch report for ENG vs NZ match
Notably, there are three kinds of pitches at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The stadium has black soil and red soil as well as a mixture of red and black soil. The black soil pitches generally create more bounce and allows free run-scoring opportunities. Meanwhile, the Red soil pitches dry up easier and generally favours the slower bowlers or spinners as the match unfolds.
As for the mix of both red and black soil, the pitch generally favours an even result. The pitch for the ENG vs NZ match has still not been confirmed as of now. During the IPL earlier this year, the venue produced a lot of high-scoring games where teams easily chased totals of 200. However, during the most recent ODI match at the venue, the team chasing, struggled to get past 266. The pitch offered assistance to both seamers and spinners.
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