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England vs New Zealand (Image Credit: Twitter)
In the opening game of the upcoming ODI World Cup next month, defending champions, England will take on New Zealand. This game will take place on October 5. Talking about the game, the Blackcaps would like to take the revenge of the 2019 WC. Not that it was England's win in the main game or in the Super Over stage. In both scenarios, the Three Lions managed to tie the game.
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It all came down to a bizarre boundary count that ensured the Three Lions finally won an ODI WC. It was ironic to see that England, the inventor of the game, took 44 years (ODI WCs started in 1975). On the other hand, New Zealand, who never played a final in WCs, has played two in 2015 and 2019. Meanwhile, ahead of the 2023 WC opener, let's have a look at the SWOT analysis of both teams.
SWOT analysis of England and New Zealand
Strength: Talking about England's batting, they have one of the best batting line-ups since 2015. In recent times, they scored 360-plus runs after starting with 13/2 at one point against the same side. On the other hand, the two-time finalists have had a major boost with Kane Williamson's return. In their recent warm-up game against Pakistan, they chased down 346 runs with more than six overs left.
Weakness: Talking about England's bowling they don't have the services of Ben Stokes' bowling. Apart from this, they might miss the services of Jofra Archer, who helped them win last time around. Gus Atkinson is Archer's replacement is not very experienced. Apart from Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, and Moeen Ali are the only experienced bowlers with Ali being a batting all-rounder. On the other hand, New Zealand doesn't have a second experienced spinner after Ish Sodhi.
Opportunity: The likes of Reece Topley, Atkinson, and Sam Curran will play their first ODI World Cup. Talking about Gus, no team apart from New Zealand has seen enough of him. These players can do well. On the other hand, the likes of Mark Chapman, Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, etc. can do well.
Threats: As far as threats are concerned, both teams can become the victim of their own success. The Blackcaps have the ability to turn up for the mega events despite having poor bilateral series in lead-up. For England, their bad day with the bat will challenge them badly.