Australia wins toss and elects to field against England in Champions Trophy match
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Australia won the toss and elected to field against England in its opening Group B game on Saturday at the Champions Trophy.Australia is being led by Steven Smith after its World Cup-winning pace trio of captain Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc were ruled out of tournament due to injuries and personal reasons. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis has announced a surprise retirement from ODIs.Fast bowlers Ben Dwarshius, Nathan Ellis and Spencer Johnson were drafted into the playing XI to fill in the big shoes of Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc with Adam Zampa the only frontline spinner.Australia didn’t have an ideal preparation for the tournament after losing the home series 2-1 to Pakistan and was also whitewashed 2-0 in Sri Lanka earlier this month.England, coming into the Champions Trophy after a 3-0 loss in India, has promoted wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith to No. 3 which means Joe Root will be batting down at No. 4. Smith will take over the wicketkeeping gloves from Phil Salt after recovering from a calf injury.England go into the opening game with four specialist bowlers and will be heavily relying on the pace of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer upfront with Brydon Carse as the other pace option.Liam Livingstone and Root will make up for the fifth bowler with leg-spinner Adil Rashid as the sole specialist spin option in the playing XI.Pakistan is hosting its first major ICC tournament in 29 years since it co-hosted the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.New Zealand and India won their opening group A games against Pakistan and Bangladesh respectively while South Africa began its campaign in Group B with 107-run victory against Afghanistan at Karachi on Friday.___Lineups:England: Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (captain), Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.Australia: Travis Head, Matthew Short, Steven Smith (captain), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshius, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson.___AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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