England win toss, bat against Ireland

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BANGALORE: England captain Andrew Strauss has won the toss and elected to bat against Ireland in their Group B match here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.

England will be looking to keep up their unbeaten run at the tournament after beating Netherlands and holding favourites India to a nail-biting tie.

Fast bowler Stuart Broad returned from illness and replaced fellow seamer Ajmal Shahzad in the only change to the England side that dramatically tied its previous group game with co-hosts India on Sunday.

That meant swing specialist James Anderson kept his place despite conceding 91 runs against India -- the most by an England bowler in any World Cup match.

Ireland, who lost their opener to Bangladesh by 27 runs, brought in Australia-born all-rounder Alex Cusack for Andrew White and batsman Gary Wilson came in for seamer Andre Botha, who injured his groin during the warm-up.

Ireland's Ed Joyce was playing against England for the first time since reverting to the land of his birth after his international career with England ended following the 2007 World Cup.

This was Ireland's first all-professional team, with seven players -- captain William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Joyce, Niall O'Brien, George Dockrell and Wilson -- all signed by English counties, while the other four were on Irish contracts.

Teams:
England: Andrew Strauss (captain), Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior (wk), Michael Yardy, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson

Ireland: William Porterfield (captain), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O'Brien (wk), Alex Cusack, Kevin O'Brien, Gary Wilson, John Mooney, Trent Johnston, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin.