Pakistan chose to bowl vs England
Pakistan have opted to field in the second ODI against England at Lord's in conditions which England captain, Ben Stokes, described as "lovely to bowl in."
Pakistan have kept faith in the same side which lost the first ODI in Cardiff by nine-wickets.
It's England's first ODI at Lord's since the World Cup final in July 2019. Despite the Covid restrictions observed by the players, the game features a full-house crowd of more than 30,000 after it was included in a raft of test events by the government.
With rain delaying the start of play until 12.30pm (that's 90-minutes after the scheduled start), the match has been reduced to 47 overs a side. Two bowlers will be permitted to bowl a maximum of 10 overs and three will be permitted to bowl a maximum of nine. The first powerplay will last 10 overs, the next 29, and the final one nine.
After being forced to make 11 changes for the previous game due to an outbreak of Covid within the squad, England, too, are unchanged.
"We didn't really get tested last time," Stokes told Sky Sports. "But cricket doesn't always like that. We would have bowled first. They are lovely conditions to bowl in and we've been very successful doing it."
Stokes, making his 100th ODI appearance, was presented with a cap to commemorate the achievement by Ashley Giles, the ECB's director of men's cricket, before play.
England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Zak Crawley, 4 James Vince, 5 Ben Stokes (capt), 6 John Simpson (wk), 7 Lewis Gregory, 8 Craig Overton, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Matt Parkinson.
Pakistan: 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Sohaib Maqsood, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf.
George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
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