England and New Zealand start their preparations for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 as they clash in the first ODI match at Cardiff's Sophia Gardens on Friday, September 8. In a surprise for the fans, Harry Brook is starting an innings with Dawid Malan for England with regular openers Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy missing the game due to injuries.
Ben Stokes and Joe Root are also making their return to ODIs after a gap of 14 months and both are included in England's playing XI. For New Zealand, the star left-arm pacer Trent Boult misses out but the Kiwis have fielded a strong pace attack in the form of Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson. Captain Kane Williamson remains out of the series due to his recent recovery from a shoulder injury but is included in New Zealand squad for the ICC World Cup 2023 in India.
Jason Roy is facing a back spasm and Bairstow suffered a shoulder injury during the recent T20Is against the BlackCaps. Brook was a late inclusion in the ODI squad for the four-match series against New Zealand and is expecting a place in the World Cup squad. He will be eager to make a point and show his skills in ODIs through this series but it will be interesting to see how he performs out of position.
In bowling, Mark Wood remains on the bench as youngster Gus Atkinson makes his ODI debut after impressive performance in T20Is against Kiwis. Chris Woakes, Reece Topley and David Willey form the pace attack with Adil Rashid being the only spin option in England's playing eleven for the first ODI.
New Zealand Playing XI: Devon Conway, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (c & wk), Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson
England Playing XI: Dawid Malan, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
