- England and New Zealand will kick off the ICC World Cup 2023 on October 5, 2023, with a rematch of the 2019 edition’s final.
- England vs. New Zealand will start at 2:00 PM local time (IST), which translates to a nice and early 9:30 AM (BST) start for cricket fans in England, and a 9:30 PM (NZDT) night game for the Kiwis.
- The two sides will face off in the World Cup for the first time since the riveting 2019 final, which saw England eke out a final over victory against the Black Caps.
Fans of the England and New Zealand teams, or cricket in general, can rejoice as the opening match of the ICC World Cup can be streamed for free using 9Now. While users based in Australia can head over to the 9Now website on October 5 and watch the match, others will have to use a VPN to avoid geo-restrictions the streaming service uses.
We tried a number of VPN providers and found that NordVPN consistently and reliably circumvented geo-blocking by 9Now. Here’s how you can get it to work:
- Get NordVPN.
- Connect to a server in Australia.
- Head over to the 9Now website and sign up with your name and email address.
- You’ll find the England vs. New Zealand match streaming live on 9Now’s Gem channel. Enjoy the action!
Learn more about setting up a VPN to watch England vs. New Zealand for free by reading the rest of the article. We also cover what you can expect from the opening match and tournament.
England will kick off the defense of their Cricket World Cup crown against New Zealand on October 5, 2023, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Both teams made the final of the previous edition in 2019 and will renew their rivalry.
While both teams are currently ranked 5th and 6th in the world, they are still considered among the favorites to lift the crown. Fans in both countries can catch the live action on Sky Sports, but that requires a paid subscription.
Instead, 9Now, an Australian-based streaming service, will showcase the match for free! Users outside Australia, though, will have to find a way around the site’s geo-blocking. We highly recommend using NordVPN for unblocking, as it has a sizeable Aussie server network we’ve used to stream plenty of sports on 9Now.
How to Live Stream England vs. New Zealand for Free
9Now is fast becoming one of our favorite websites to watch sports events for free online. Just recently, we used it to watch the US Open Tennis Championships.
The Nine Network has picked up the rights to broadcast some ICC cricket games, including this tourney opener and the ICC Cricket World Cup final. As a result, you can watch these select matches live and for free on 9Now. However, live streams will not work for users outside Australia.
Luckily, a VPN can help evade geo-blocking by routing your traffic through a server in a different country. This tricks online websites or applications into believing that you’re located in the country where the VPN server is — Australia, in our case.
After extensive testing, we’ve identified NordVPN as the best VPN to watch England vs. New Zealand. It has more than 190 servers in Australia and offers great speeds, which are crucial when live-streaming sports events. If you subscribe to NordVPN now, you get 75% on their two-year deal plus an extra three months!
Live Stream England vs. New Zealand for Free with a VPN: Step-by-Step Guide
While setting up a VPN may seem daunting, it’s actually quite easy if you follow the steps listed below:
- Subscribe to a reliable VPN provider. NordVPN is our pick for streaming England vs. New Zealand due to its server network and excellent unblocking features.
- Create an account and download and install the VPN app on your preferred streaming device.
- Launch the app and log in using the credentials you created in step 1.
- Connect to one of NordVPN’s Australian servers.

- Navigate to the 9Now website. To sign up for an account, you’ll just need to provide some basic information, an email address and any Australian postcode.

- Find the England vs. New Zealand live stream on 9Now’s channel Gem. Enjoy the start of ICC Cricket World Cup!
Since the action kicks off at 4:30 AM (ET), we recommend that any US fans set up their VPN and sign up for an account the night prior to the match. It’ll help avoid a last-minute panic causing you to miss the action.
Pro Tip:
If you continue receiving a geo-blocking message on 9Now even after using a VPN service, you can try using a privacy-focused browser, like Mozilla Firefox or Brave, or open an incognito/private browsing tab on other browsers. Try clearing your cookies and cache as a last resort.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Full Schedule
The following table lists all the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 matches, starting with the England vs. New Zealand game. The group stage will go on from October 5 to November 12, 2023. The semi-finals and finals are scheduled from November 15 – 19.
Unfortunately, 9Now will only live stream games select games — though we will get England vs. Zealand and certainly the finals. To watch other games, you’ll need a subscription to your local streaming provider or broadcaster.
We’ve listed different services you can use in our detailed guide on watching the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
| Date and Time (Local Time) | Fixture | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, October 5 (2:00 PM) | England vs. New Zealand | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad |
| Friday, October 6 (2:00 PM) | Pakistan vs. Netherlands | Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad |
| Saturday, October 7 (10:30 AM) | Bangladesh vs. Afghanistan | HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala |
| Saturday, October 7 (2:00 PM) | South Africa vs. Sri Lanka | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi |
| Sunday, October 8 (2:00 PM) | India vs. Australia | MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai |
| Monday, October 9 (2:00 PM) | New Zealand vs. Netherlands | Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad |
| Tuesday, October 10 (10:30 AM) | England vs. Bangaldesh | HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala |
| Tuesday, October 10 (2:00 PM) | Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka | Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad |
| Wednesday, October 11 (2:00 PM) | India vs. Afghanistan | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi |
| Thursday, October 12 (2:00 PM) | Australia vs. South Africa | BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow |
| Friday, October 13 (2:00 PM) | New Zealand vs. Bangladesh | MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai |
| Saturday, October 14 (2:00 PM) | India vs. Pakistan | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad |
| Sunday, October 15 (2:00 PM) | England vs. Afghanistan | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi |
| Monday, October 16 (2:00 PM) | Australia vs. Sri Lanka | BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow |
| Tuesday, October 17 (2:00 PM) | South Africa vs. Netherlands | HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala |
| Wednesday, October 18 (2:00 PM) | New Zealand vs. Afghanistan | MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai |
| Thursday, October 19 (2:00 PM) | India vs. Bangladesh | MCA International Stadium, Pune |
| Friday, October 20 (2:00 PM) | Australia vs. Pakistan | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru |
| Saturday, October 21 (10:30 AM) | Netherlands vs. Sri Lanka | BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow |
| Saturday, October 21 (2:00 PM) | England vs. South Africa | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai |
| Sunday, October 22 (2:00 PM) | India vs. New Zealand | HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala |
| Monday, October 23 (2:00 PM) | Pakistan vs. Afghanistan | MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai |
| Tuesday, October 24 (2:00 PM) | South Africa vs. Bangladesh | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai |
| Wednesday, October 25 (2:00 PM) | Australia vs. Netherlands | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi |
| Thursday, October 26 (2:00 PM) | England vs. Sri Lanka | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru |
| Friday, October 27 (2:00 PM) | Pakistan vs. South Africa | MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai |
| Saturday, October 28 (10:30 AM) | Australia vs. New Zealand | HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala |
| Saturday, October 28 (2:00 PM) | Netherlands vs. Bangladesh | Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
| Sunday, October 29 (2:00 PM) | India vs. England | BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow |
| Monday, October 30 (2:00 PM) | Afghanistan vs. Sri Lanka | MCA International Stadium, Pune |
| Tuesday, October 31 (2:00 PM) | Pakistan vs. Bangladesh | Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
| Wednesday, November 1 (2:00 PM) | New Zealand vs. South Africa | MCA International Stadium, Pune |
| Thursday, November 2 (2:00 PM) | India vs. Sri Lanka | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai |
| Friday, November 3 (2:00 PM) | Netherlands vs. Afghanistan | BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow |
| Saturday, November 4 (10:30 AM) | New Zealand vs. Pakistan | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru |
| Saturday, November 4 (2:00 PM) | England vs. Australia | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad |
| Sunday, November 5 (2:00 PM) | India vs. South Africa | Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
| Monday, November 6 (2:00 PM) | Bangladesh vs. Sri Lanka | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi |
| Tuesday, November 7 (2:00 PM) | Australia vs. Afghanistan | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai |
| Wednesday, November 8 (2:00 PM) | England vs. Netherlands | MCA International Stadium, Pune |
| Thursday, November 9 (2:00 PM) | New Zealand vs. Sri Lanka | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru |
| Friday, November 10 (2:00 PM) | South Africa vs. Afghanistan | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad |
| Saturday, November 11 (10:30 AM) | Australia vs. Bangladesh | MCA International Stadium, Pune |
| Saturday, November 11 (2:00 PM) | England vs. Pakistan | Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
| Sunday, November 12 (2:00 PM) | India vs. Netherlands | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru |
| Wednesday, November 15 (2:00 PM) | (Semi–Final) 1st Place vs 4th Place | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai |
| Thursday, November 16 (2:00 PM) | (Semi–Final) 2nd Place vs 3rd Place | Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
| Sunday, November 19 (2:00 PM) | (Final) Semi–Final Winner 1 vs. Semi–Final Winner 2 | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad |
With a VPN, you can watch any of these games even if they aren’t being streamed live in your country. Just use a server in countries like the UK or the US and get a subscription to providers like Sky Sports or Willow Sports, which are live streaming the entire tournament!
