Ben Stokes ruled out of World Cup opener as England launch title defence
Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the opening match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 as England launch their title defence.
The star all-rounder led England to an incredible victory in the epic Cricket World Cup 2019 final but will sit out the rematch against New Zealand due to a hip issue.
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Stokes has been battling long-term issues with a troublesome knee but reconsidered his retirement from ODIs to be selected as a specialist batter for England's World Cup campaign in India.
The 32-year-old has not played a competitive match since clubbing 182 runs against New Zealand in an ODI win on 13 September.
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Stokes was the only member of England’s World Cup squad not to take the field in their warm-up match against Bangladesh as he focuses on firing at the pointy end of the showpiece event.
“Ben's going to miss this game, he's got a little niggle with his hip,” England captain Jos Buttler said after losing the toss and being sent in to bat.
New Zealand will also start their World Cup challenge without key players in captain Kane Williamson and pacer Tim Southee.
Williamson remarkably recovered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in April in time to play in New Zealand’s World Cup warm-up matches as a batter only, but will sit out the clash with England to focus on building his fitness.
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The 33-year-old impressed in the warm-up matches with scores of 37* against South Africa and 54* against Pakistan, and remains crucial to New Zealand’s hopes of claiming a first-ever World Cup trophy.
"It's great to see Kane back and to see him batting," New Zealand stand-in skipper Tom Latham said on Wednesday.
"It's like he never left, to be honest, in terms of batting. It's great to see him moving really well too. He's playing all the shots he used to play.”
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Southee will also miss the rematch between the Cricket World Cup 2019 finalists as he continues to recover from surgery on a thumb he dislocated while playing in an ODI against England on 15 September.
“It's a bit of a day-by-day process with him in terms of what that looks like too. But fingers crossed he'll be available sooner rather than later as well,” Latham said.
England XI: Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c, wk), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
New Zealand XI: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (c, wk), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Trent Boult