By Shrivathsa Sridhar
BENGALURU (Reuters) – England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat first against Sri Lanka in their World Cup match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, as the defending champions made three changes in a bid to arrest a worrying slide.
England are looking to breathe life into their campaign after losing three of their first four matches, including a 229-run thrashing by South Africa in the previous game.
They brought in all-rounders Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes, as Harry Brook, Gus Atkinson and the injured Reece Topley made way.
Buttler said the team was looking to put up a good score on a good wicket that looked a bit drier than usual, while Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis said he too would have opted to bat first at a traditionally high-scoring venue.
Sri Lanka, also in search of a win to boost their hopes of reaching the semi-finals, head into the game having opened their account against the Netherlands last week.
Veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews was one of two changes in their side.
TEAMS
England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Chandradasa Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by John Stonestreet)
