West Indies skipper Jason Holder on Monday won the toss and elected to bowl in their World Cup fixture against Sri Lanka at the Riverside Ground.
West Indies have made one change to their playing XI. They have included Shannon Gabriel in place of Kemar Roach.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka have made three changes to their line-up. They have included Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay and Kasun Rajitha in place of Suranga Lakmal, Thisara Perera and Jeevan Mendis.
“We’re fielding first. It’s a fresh wicket. It should be responsive first up with the ball. We still got pride to play for and we need to play a perfect game. Bowlers have done well so far and hopefully they can respond and the batsmen can chase it down. Roach is unwell and Gabriel will play,” said Holder after winning the toss.
“We would have liked to bowl. In the last match, the pitch did respond with the new ball. We wanted to take early advantage with the new ball and take a couple of wickets early in the morning. We couldn’t pass 250 and haven’t really fared properly. We need the middle- and the top-order to fire in this match. We have to focus on the World Cup for now – the future plans can wait,” said Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne.
Playing XIs
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope(w), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder(c), Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Shannon Gabriel, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne(c), Kusal Perera(w), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Kasun Rajitha, Lasith Malinga