<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">New Zealand's Tim Southee will miss the World Cup's opening match against holders England and potentially some of the following matches due to an injured thumb, stand-in-skipper Tom Latham said Wednesday.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Black Caps will be without regular captain Kane Williamson (knee injury) and Southee (thumb injury) at the tournament's opening match in the world's biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Williamson played the team's first warm-up purely as a batsman and then fielded as well in the second warm-up, but Southee still awaits his first outing in India.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"No Kane and no Tim as well," Latham told reporters ahead of the opener.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"He (Southee) is unavailable for selection. He is recovering nicely, it has been nearly two weeks post-surgery, so fingers crossed he keeps recovering.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's a bit of a day-by-day process. But fingers crossed he'll be available sooner rather than later as well."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Southee, who dislocated his thumb in a one-day against England more than three weeks ago, underwent surgery and said doctors had to "chuck in some screws and a plate" to boost his chances of playing in the 50-over showpiece event.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Southee played a key role in his team's runners-up finish in the 2019 edition but missed the dramatic final defeat to hosts England at Lord's.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- 'We can beat anyone' -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Kiwis are still hunting for their first World Cup title after making eight semi-final appearances in 12 editions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They come into the tournament as the underdogs, with most pundits handing the favourites tag to either India or England.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We are not focused on what people are predicting; from our point of view we are solely focused on what we have to do," said Latham.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"If we can play our brand of cricket in these conditions -- which is pretty different to the last two ODI World Cups, in Australia and England."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He added: "If we play to the best of our ability then we are hard to beat on the day."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">New Zealand come in fresh from a 2-0 win over hosts Bangladesh, but lost a four-match ODI series 3-1 to England last month.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I don't think it has any bearing on the next game," said Latham.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's about turning up on that particular day and trying to play your best brand of cricket. If we play to the best of our ability then we can beat anyone in the world. Conditions are totally different to what we played in England."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Latham said the team is "excited" to open the World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium, which has a capacity of 132,000. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>