1st T20I: Australia opt to bowl against England

SOUTHAMPTON: Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to field against England in the first

Twenty20

international at Southampton on Friday.


Australia, the world's number one ranked T20 side, included Marcus Stoinis after the all-rounder impressed in their intra-squad warm-up matches in England ahead of the opening international of their tour.

England, with their multi-format players available for white-ball cricket for the first time in a season compressed by the coronavirus, made three changes to the side that lost by five runs to Pakistan in the third T20 international at Manchester on Tuesday.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler and fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, all members of the England side that won last year's 50-over World Cup final at Lord's, were recalled in place of Sam Billings, Lewis Gregory and Saqib Mahmood.

This was Archer's first white-ball international since the World Cup, with his Sussex team-mate Chris Jordan winning his 50th T20 cap for England, second behind Australia in the global rankings for this format.

Friday's fixture is the first of a three-match series, all at Southampton, between England and Australia before the arch-rivals play three one-day internationals in Manchester from September 11.

England were wearing black armbands as a mark of respect for David Capel after it was announced on Wednesday that the former Northamptonshire and England all-rounder had died aged 57.

Teams

England: Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Dawid Malan, Tom Banton, Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid

Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wkt), Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa

Umpires: Alex Wharf (ENG), Martin Saggers (ENG)

TV umpire: David Millns (ENG)

Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)

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