England win toss and bat against Australia by AFP

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Scorecard:	Australia v England
Event:	ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 9th March 2007

 

England captain Michael Vaughan won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in the teams' second and final World Cup warm-up match here Friday.

 

Both sides took advantage of a tournament rule which allows 13 players in a warm-up match but with only 11 permitted to bat.

 

England were unchanged from the team that thrashed minnows Bermuda by 241 runs here Monday.

 

That meant opening batsman Andrew Strauss and all-rounder Ravi Bopara were once again the two players in England's 15 man squad to miss out.

 

Strauss's omission was particularly significant as it gave another opportunity to Ed Joyce, his Middlesex team-mate, to stake a claim for the opener's spot alongside captain Michael Vaughan.

 

Australia added wicket-keeper and opening batsman Adam Gilchrist to the 12-man team that overwhelmed Zimbabwe by 106 runs in their first warm-up match here Tuesday.

 

Gilchrist missed the game as he'd only arrived in St Vincent on Monday following the birth of his third child, Archie.

 

Opening batsman Matthew Hayden (broken toe) and all-rounder Andrew Symonds (bicep) were once again not selected because of injury.

 

Shane Watson was due to open the innings again in the absence of Hayden.

 

England were searching for a fourth straight limited overs victory against reigning world champions Australia.

 

Their run of three successive wins against their oldest rivals included a 2-0 success in the final of the tri-series, which also featured New Zealand, in Australia last month.

 

Australia

 

Adam Gilchrist (wkt), Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Brad Hodge, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin, Brad Hogg, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Shaun Tait, Glenn McGrath

 

England

 

Michael Vaughan (capt), Ed Joyce, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Jamie Dalrymple, Paul Nixon (wkt), Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett, Jon Lewis, James Anderson, Monty Panesar

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)