England captain Jos Buttler has won the toss and has elected to bat first against Pakistan at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. England have also gone with an unchanged side as they hope to firm their direct qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Buttler winning the toss has left Pakistan to do the unthinkable, bowling them out under 20 runs.
Coming into the game, Pakistan had to win the toss and put up an imposing total to register one of their biggest wins in ODI history. Babar Azam's men needed to defeat England at least by 287 runs to get ahead of New Zealand in terms of net run-rate. As things stand, the bowlers must do a remarkable job to script a memorable win for Pakistan and propel them to the knockouts.
England, meanwhile, will be hoping to continue their momentum achieved from their 160-run victory over the Netherlands in Pune. With plenty of English players from this squad unlikely to play in the next 50-over World Cup, they will want to finish their campaign on a high.
Pakistan and England playing XI for the match in Kolkata:
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf.
England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(w/c), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid.
