England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and chose to bat against New Zealand in their last league match of World Cup 2019 at the Riverside Cricket Ground in Chester-le-Street on Wednesday.

England are unchanged, whereas for New Zealand, Tim Southee and Matt Henry replace Lockie Ferguson and Ish Sodhi.

“We will bat first because of the pitch and overhead conditions. All the pitches we have played so far have gotten slower and lower in the second innings, little bit of trend in the tournament as well. All pitches probably have not been as good as in the last 3-4 years. There is more on the line, so there is more excitement. This game is like a quarter-final for us. We train hard for a game like today. There was frustration in our camp but the victory against India has boosted our confidence. Every game we play, we have a chance to show how far we have come as a team from that day in New Zealand. That was a dark day. New Zealand are a strong side, we have to play well in order to compete,” said Morgan after winning the toss.

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said: “I would have liked to bat first too but pitch doesn’t change much here. It is important that we do the job with the ball first-up. Southee (Tim) and Henry (Matt) come in place of Ferguson (Lockie) and Sodhi (Ish). Ferguson has been outstanding for us in this tournament, especially in the middle overs. He has a hamstring niggle. Hopefully, he will recover quickly. Southee is very experienced. It is great that he is on the park for us today.”

New Zealand have 11 points from 8 matches and are still longing for a confirmed berth in the semi-final. They need to win this final match to avoid any twist in the tale. England, on the other hand, have 10 points from 8 matches. A victory from here would seal a berth for them in the knockout stage.

Here are the Playing XIs of both the teams:

England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (captain), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Colin de Grandhomme, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Trent Boult