Advertisement

Eoin Morgan chooses to bat against Sri Lanka

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and chose to bat in their World Cup Pool A clash at Wellington Regional Stadium on Sunday.

England were unchanged from their 119-run victory over Scotland in Christchurch, giving Gary Ballance another chance to prove his credentials after scoring 30 runs in three innings at the tournament.

Opening bowler James Anderson has also been expensive and captured just two wickets so far, against Scotland.

Both sides have been well beaten by co-hosts New Zealand, with England suffering a humiliating eight-wicket loss at Wellington Regional Stadium last week.

Sri Lanka, however, have started to get into their stride with victories over Afghanistan and Bangladesh with two of the 'Big Three', Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan, notching centuries in the last two matches.

Suranga Lakmal has been the pick of their pace bowlers with Lasith Malinga still struggling to recover his form after ankle surgery.

Both teams should still qualify for the quarter-finals, with the result of the match probably only determining who they meet, with the team finishing fourth to face the winner of Pool B.

England - Moeen Ali, Ian Bell, Gary Ballance, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, James Taylor, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, James Anderson.

Sri Lanka - Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal.

(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Mark Meadows)