Eng vs Aus 1st ODI: Eng bowl first, injured Smith sits out (Toss)

Manchester, Sep 11 (IANS) England have won the toss and chosen to bowl first in the first ODI against Australia at Old Trafford in Manchester, England. Australia’s star batsman Steve Smith will be sitting out the match after he received a knock on the head during practice on the eve of the match.

“It looks a good wicket, potentially a little bit tacky,” said England captain Eoin Morgan. “Hopefully, we’ll restrict Australia to a gettable total. It is a little bit softer than the Pakistan games. The two Currans and Tom Banton miss out. It’s great to have guys back. The addition of Mark Wood helps [in the middle overs], and Old Trafford normally takes a bit of turn so having Adil, Moeen and Joe is helpful. Australia are a fantastic side, and a difficult side to beat.”

Australia captain Aaron Finch said that he would have batted first, anyhow. “Steve Smith misses out, he got a knock on the head yesterday in practice so that’s a precautionary measure,” he said.

“Stoinis is going to bat at No. 3. Over the last couple of years we’ve played really good cricket in patches and really indifferent cricket in patches – we’re looking to be more consistent. We haven’t played our best cricket consistently but we’re confident we can play some really good one-day cricket.”

England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (captain), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler (wicket-keeper), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), David Warner, Marcus Stoinis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wicket-keeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa

–IANS

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