England batting after Pakistan win toss

Sport Desk: England are batting first against Pakistan in the first match of the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy at Sophia Gardens of Cardiff.

The match started at 3:30pm (Bangladesh time) on Wednesday.

Earlier, Pakistan's captan Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and invited the co-host England to bat first.

Mohammad Amir pulled out of Pakistan's Champions Trophy semi-final at Cardiff today with what his captain, Sarfraz Ahmed, reported as "a back spasm" as Pakistan won the toss and inserted England in Cardiff.

Rumman Raees, a 25-year-old left-armer with only two T20Is behind him, took his place and had a chance to make a name for himself.

It was a blow for Amir, who is still awaiting a stand-out performance to pronounce incontrovertibly that, after returning from his match-fixing ban, he can achieve the standards that made him one of the most talked-about young fast bowlers in the world game.

England were content to bat first on a sunny morning, but Pakistan had memories of their win against Sri Lanka still fresh in the mind when they pulled off a frenetic run-chase against Sri Lanka when all seemed lost.

Despite being the only unbeaten side in the tournament, England have slipped behind India as the official favourites - thanks in no small part, perhaps, to Pakistan's unpredictability.

They made an expected change when Jonny Bairstow replaced Jason Roy at the top of the order, England finally abandoning hope that Roy, so important in setting a brash tempo, would come good after a sorry run of 52 runs in eight knocks. Bairstow has limited experience as an opener, but as far as England were concerned shuffling the order was not an option.

England: Alex Hales, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood, Jake Ball.

Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt, wk), Imad Wasim, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan.
 

risingbd/Dhaka/June 14, 2017/A K Azad/Nasim