News Sports Cricket World Cup 2015: England wins toss, sends Australia to bat first; Match 2

World Cup 2015: England wins toss, sends Australia to bat first; Match 2

Melbourne, Australia: England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and sent Australia in to bat in their opening Cricket World Cup match in warm and sunny conditions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.England opted

world cup 2015 england wins toss sends australia to bat first match 2 world cup 2015 england wins toss sends australia to bat first match 2

Melbourne, Australia: England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and sent Australia in to bat in their opening Cricket World Cup match in warm and sunny conditions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.

England opted to include Gary Ballance at No.3 in the batting lineup at the expense of Ravi Bopara.

Australia's XI offered no surprises, with allrounder Glenn Maxwell bolstering an all-pace bowling attack featuring Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood.

Melbourne was drenched by storms overnight, with rain continuing until mid-morning, but the MCG outfield appeared dry by the toss, with clear skies forecast throughout the match.

A sellout crowd of around 90,000 mainly Australia fans are expected to be at the MCG for the Pool A match.

___

Lineups:

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Steve Smith, George Bailey (captain), Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood.

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

Umpires: Aleem Dar, Pakistan, and Kumar Dharmasena, Sri Lanka.

TV umpire: Billy Bowden, New Zealand. Match referee: Jeff Crowe, New Zealand.