Pakistan win toss, bat first against England in second Test

LONDON: Pakistan have won the toss against England in a series-decider second Test at Headingly and elected to bat first.

After winning the toss, Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed said: “ It looks a good pitch”, as he has played here before with Yorkshire and is happy to have first go.

The captain confirmed that Salahuddin has been included in place for Babar Azam and that’s the only change Pakistan made in its side.

England captain Joe Root looks like he wanted to bat, too, but says it “feels humid, so we might get a bit of swing”. “To get the opportunity to take some early wickets might be just what we need.” Ben Stokes is confirmed as having torn a hamstring, so Sam Curran comes in, while Woakes does indeed replace Wood.

England made a late addition to their squad, with uncapped left-arm seamer Sam Curran called up Wednesday after Stokes suffered a hamstring strain.

England: 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Keaton Jennings, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dawid Malan, 5 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 6 Jos Buttler, 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Dom Bess, 9 Sam Curran, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson

Pakistan: 1 Azhar Ali, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Haris Sohail, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Usman Salahuddin, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Mohammad Abbas