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Pakistan's World Cup Exit Confirmed? England Opt To Bat In Kolkata Face-Off

image-lotrozb7England will bat first in Kolkata [AP]

In a significant development, England have opted to bat first in their final league-stage game against Pakistan in the 2023 World Cup. Notably, Pakistan had to bat in order to keep their semifinal chances alive, if there was any.

However, England captain Jos Buttler chose to bat in Kolkata, leaving Babar Azam and Pakistan in disarray. Now, Pakistan must restrict the Englishmen to at least 50 and chase it within two overs, which is certainly an improbable task. 

The Men in Green have made one change to their playing XI for this match, replacing Hasan Ali with Shadab Khan. 

At toss, England captain Jos Buttler said, 

"We are gonna bat first. Yeah, it looks a good wicket. Maybe a bit dry and we want to make the first use of the wicket with the bat. Same team for us. It was nice to get back to the winning ways, breaking the losing streak and today, we will look to do well and leave India on a high. It has been a fantastic career for David Willey. He has been great for us. We have spoken about the game and would try to enjoy the game and take it all in from then onwards."

On the other hand, Buttler's counterpart Babar Azam revealed that they would've batted first as well, saying, 

"We wanted to bat first as well. But the toss is not in our hands, obviously. We have a good bowling attack. We need to bowl well and get them out as quickly as possible. We have one change. Hasan Ali is not playing, and Shadab Khan comes in. We are looking forward to another Fakhar innings. He has batted beautifully, and everyone has enjoyed his batting in the dressing room. Let us see how it goes."

Pakistan Playing XI: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shadab Khan (vc), Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf

England Playing XI: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Moeen Ali, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid