England skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat first against New Zealand in their crucial Group 1, Super 12 clash of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup at The Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday.
New Zealand are the top of the points table with five points and two wins in three matches. England is at the fourth position with three points, with only one win in three matches. They lost one due to rain against Ireland via DLS method and their match against arch-rivals Australia was also washed out due to rain. This game is a must-win for England if they want to boost their chances for semifinal qualification.
England skipper Jos Buttler said at the toss, "We are going to have a bat first. It is a used wicket, had a couple of games on it and we fancy a bat today. Whatever you do, you have to do well. These are the games you want to be involved in as players and we are looking forward to it. There are plenty of people ready and raring to get out there, lot of dangerous players and they are excited. We are going with the same team. We will always be flexible with our (batting) order, giving the players the best opportunity to express themselves."
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson also said at the toss, "Used surface, we would have had a bat as well. But we are bowling first, need to make use and adapt to the conditions. The venues keep changing when you play a World Cup, important to start strong. We just want to focus on one game at a time and try to make those adjustments and keep sticking to our plans. We have a good contest here against England. They (Southee and Boult) have been great and adjusted to the conditions, they are experienced and important we use that new ball again. You always look at the opposition and make changes, but today we are going with the same team."
England (Playing XI): Jos Buttler(w/c), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Devon Conway(w), Kane Williamson(c), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
( With inputs from ANI )
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