England win toss, elect to bowl

By
AFP
|
England win toss, elect to bowl
CARDIFF: England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to field against India in the second one-day international at Cardiff on Wednesday.

As expected, England gave an ODI debut to Alex Hales, who would have played in Bristol on Monday had the first of this five-match series not been washed out.

Hard-hitting Nottinghamshire opener Hales has appeared in 32 Twenty20s for England and scored his country´s first century in cricket´s shortest format when he made 116 not out from 64 balls against Sri Lanka at the World Twenty20 in March.

The 25-year-old, who will partner Cook at the top of the order, has been tipped as the man to revive the team´s often staid approach with the bat in the opening overs of a one-day game.

India, the 50-over world champions, were looking to bounce back following their 3-1 defeat by England in the recent Test series.

Last year, India beat England in the final of the 50-over Champions Trophy at Edgbaston, although rain reduced that match to a 20 overs per side contest.

This match marks the start of both teams lead-in to next year´s one-day World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Teams
England: Alastair Cook (capt), Alex Hales, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler (wkt), Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, James Tredwell, James Anderson

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (capt/wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma. (AFP)