T20 WC: Pakistan elect to bowl against England

T20 WC: Pakistan elect to bowl against England 7 Jun 2009, 2140 hrs IST, TIMESOFINDIA.COM

NEW DELHI: Pakistan captain Younis Khan won the toss and chose to bowl against England in the sixth match of the Twenty20 World Cup at the Kennington Oval on Sunday. Scorecard The big boost for England is that Kevin Pietersen is playing the match. England captain Paul Collingwood faces a test of his leadership credentials after their shock loss to the Netherlands. Friday's stunning four-wicket defeat by the minnows in the tournament opener at Lord's means England cannot afford another reverse on Sunday if they are to progress to the second round Super Eight phase. England, surprisingly, left out off-spinner Graeme Swann and all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas from their team that played the Dutch while star batsman Pietersen was ruled out with an Achilles tendon injury. But equally concerning for England was the way in which they were unable to defend a score of 162/5, with the Dutch getting home off the last ball thanks in part to a series of fielding errors by England quick Stuart Broad. England have often given the impression in recent years that their focus is solely on the upcoming Test series against Australia, which starts in July. Pakistan come into the game on the back of two heavy warm-up losses to South Africa (59 runs) and archrivals India (nine wickets). But if any team in world cricket can find their form when needed with little in the way of prior warning then it is Pakistan. Squads: England: Paul Collingwood (Capt.), Ravi Bopara, Luke Wright, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, James Foster, Adil Rashid, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Dimitri Mascarenhas. Pakistan: Younis Khan (Capt.), Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamer.