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Bangalore: England skipper Andrew Strauss won the toss and decided to bat first against Ireland in the Group B match of the ICC World Cup at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Wednesday.
Stuart Broad returned to the final eleven after missing match against India due to illness. Broad replaced Ajmal Shahzad in the team.
Ireland made two changes to the team that lost to Bangladesh on Friday, with Alex Cusack replacing Andrew White. Gary Wilson was a last-minute inclusion in the team after Andre Botha injured his groin in pre-match practice.
After snatching a thrilling tie against favourites India, a rampaging England will look to mow down minnows Ireland and pocket the crucial two points.
After an unconvincing victory against Holland in their opening match, England were in sniffing distance of a memorable win over India on Sunday but the English team almost threw the chance before holding on to an astonishing tie.
Having three points from two matches, England are placed just behind India in the table with the only thing separating them being the run-rate. England's batting has fired in both their previous encounters where they chased down 292 against Holland and scored 338 against India.
Ireland, on the other hand, didn't have much to take home from their match against Bangladesh, their first match of the World Cup.
Ireland's bowlers fared better than the batsmen as they dismissed Bangladesh for 205. But the team was let down by the batsmen as they failed to chase down the total.
Interestingly, Ireland will have the services of some of the regulars of English county circuit such as Ed Joyce, who was granted special dispensation by the ICC to play for the country of his birth at the last moment.
Joyce, who was dropped by England after the side's dismal showing at the 2007 World Cup, will be joined by Somerset spinner George Dockrell on Wednesday.
