England win toss, bat in Lord’s Test against Pakistan

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