New Zealand's stand-in captain Tom Latham won the toss and elected to field against England as the 50-overs World Cup in India got under way with a rematch of the 2019 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday.

New Zealand rested regular captain Kane Williamson (knee) and fast bowler Tim Southee (thumb) to give them more time to recover from surgery.

India legend Sachin Tendulkar waves to the crowd as he stands with the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy ahead of the match on October 05, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Lockie Ferguson also missed out with a minor injury.

"We're going to have a bowl, it looks a reasonably good surface but hopefully later on when he get a chance with the bat, it gets better," Latham said.

England captain Jos Buttler said England too would have preferred to bowl first in the match.

"We're very proud to be world champions and what we achieved four years ago but this is something new," Buttler said.

"We're not defending anything, we're here to attack and win it again."

England are without Ben Stokes, who is nursing a minor hip injury, with Harry Brook replacing him at number four.

Teams:

England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (captain), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (captain), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Trent Boult