England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to field in the third one-day international against Sri Lanka at Bristol on Sunday as the hosts eyed a 3-0 series sweep.
Despite leading 2-0 in the series, after wins at Chester-le-Street and the Oval, England resisted the temptation to give left-arm quick George Garton a debut or recall batsman Tom Banton or spinner Liam Dawson.
Instead, they made just the one change, with pace-bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes replacing fellow World Cup-winner Mark Wood.
Sri Lanka also made one change, with Oshada Fernando replacing Charith Asalanka.
With rain delaying the toss by a few minutes, Morgan said his decision to field was partly influenced by bad weather.
As for, fielding a largely unchanged team, the captain added: “There’s always a temptation to look at young guys. Tom (Banton) has played for us before and George (Garton) is new to the squad, so every time we look at selection we do keep an eye on the long-term plan for that player.
“So we don’t necessarily want to chuck them in a one-off game that has little context, we’d rather them be around the squad and start to feel more comfortable and then introduce them when opportunities present themselves.”
Sri Lanka’s batting has been their weakness in both this series and a preceding T20 campaign loss to England.
“We are expecting swing and bounce but we need a positive approach but follow the basics too,” said Sri Lanka captain Kusal Perera.
Teams
England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Sam Billings, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Tom Curran, David Willey, Adil Rashid
Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera (capt, wkt), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka, Oshada Fernando, Chamika Karunaratne, Binura Fernando, Dushmantha Chameera, Asitha Fernando
Source: AFP
-Agencies
