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Black Caps to face England in opening World Cup fixture

June 28, 2023
Adam Milne celebrates a wicket for New Zealand during a T20 match against Sri Lanka at Eden Park in April.

The Black Caps will play England in the opening fixture of the upcoming 50-over Cricket World Cup in India on October 5.

Delays saw the fixtures revealed by the International Cricket Council less than four months prior to the start of the tournament.

New Zealand's opener against England will be reminiscent of the 2019 World Cup final which England won by a now scrapped boundary-count rule.

Pakistan has also now been confirmed to play in the World Cup after initially threatening to boycott the tournament.

The threats came after India refused to play any of their Asia Cup fixtures in Pakistan. The conflict was resolved when both sides agreed to play their fixture in Sri Lanka.

"We are liaising with our government for guidance," Pakistan Cricket Board communications director Sami Ul Hasan said in a statement.

Other teams that have qualified for the World Cup include Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh and South Africa, with two more teams joining the list following the current ICC World Cup qualifiers tournament in Zimbabwe which will conclude on July 9.

Other Black Caps fixtures for the World Cup include:

Oct 5 New Zealand vs England, Ahmedabad.

Oct 9 New Zealand v TBA, Hyderabad

Oct 14 New Zealand v Bangladesh, Chennai

Oct 18, New Zealand v Afghanistan, Chennai

Oct 22 New Zealand v India, Dharamsala

Oct 28 New Zealand v Australia, Dharamsala

Nov 1 New Zealand v South Africa, Pune

Nov 4 New Zealand v Pakistan, Bengaluru

Nov 9 New Zealand v TBA, Bengaluru

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