Australia win toss, opt to bat first against England

Australia won the toss and opted to bat first against England in the second semi-final match of ICC World Cup 2019 at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Thursday.

England, after two back-to-back victories over India and New Zealand in league stage matches, are gearing up to face arch-rivals Australia.

In the league stage match, Australia had comfortably thumped England by 64 runs at the Lord's on June 25. Chasing 286, none of the England batsmen could score big and the team was eventually bundled out for 221. 

However, England’s confidence boosted after the return of opener Jason Roy and they played stupendous cricket, the way they began their World Cup campaign, later on. 

England’s woeful first-round exit at the 2015 edition prompted a complete rethink of their approach to one-day internationals for a side that had long placed Test success above all other considerations.

Squads:
England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch(c), Steven Smith, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon