England win toss and bat against Pakistan

SOUTHAMPTON, England: England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat againstPakistan in the deciding fifth and final one-day international at the Rose Bowl here on Wednesday.

Strauss’s move meant Pakistan, who had reverse-swing expert Umar Gul in the side, would not be bowling under the floodlights as they’d done in the fourth one-dayer at Lord’s on Monday, where they won by 38 runs to level the series at 2-2 having been 2-0 down.

England made one change with all-rounder Luke Wright replacing left-arm spinner Michael Yardy.

This series, and indeed Pakistan’s tour of Britain, has been overshadowed by ‘fixing’ allegations and the latest flashpoint saw an altercation between England’s Jonathan Trott and Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz before the toss at Lord’s.

Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, fuelled the row by accusing England of losing last week’s third one-day international at The Oval deliberately, sparking threats of legal action by English officials.

Pakistan’s Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif have all been questioned by British police over an alleged plot to bowl deliberate no-balls during last month’s Test at Lord’s.

Riaz was also interviewed by the British authorities.

All four players have denied any wrongdoing.

This was the final match of the 2010 English cricket season, with England national selector Geoff Miller due to announce the squad for the Ashes tour of Australia on Thursday.

Teams

England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Steven Davies (wkt), Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson

Pakistan: Kamran Akmal (wkt), Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Yousuf, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi (capt), Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar

Umpires: Billy Doctrove (WIS) and Ian Gould (ENG)

TV umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)