London: England captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat in the first cricket Test against Pakistan at Lord’s on Thursday.
England gave a debut to 20-year-old Somerset off-spinner Dominic Bess and included fast bowler Mark Wood in their XI, with pace bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes missing out after being selected in a 12-man squad.
Pakistan made one change to the side that beat Test debutants Ireland by five wickets in Dublin last week, with Hasan Ali replacing left-arm paceman Rahat Ali for the first of this two-Test series.
This match saw England opener Alastair Cook equal Australia great Allan Border’s all-time record of playing in 153 consecutive Tests.
England were looking to bounce back after a difficult southern hemisphere tour where they failed to win in seven combined Tests in Australia and New Zealand.
Teams
England: Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, Joe Root (capt), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson
Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt/wkt), Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Abbas
Umpires: Rod Tucker (AUS), Paul Reiffel (AUS)
TV umpire: Bruce Oxenford (AUS)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL).
— AFP
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