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Ashes: England opts to bat

London, Jul 18: England won the toss on Thursday and chose to bat first in the second test against Australia on a hot day at Lord's, with both teams making changes to their line-ups from

ashes england opts to bat ashes england opts to bat
London, Jul 18: England won the toss on Thursday and chose to bat first in the second test against Australia on a hot day at Lord's, with both teams making changes to their line-ups from the enthralling first match.




Australia dropped left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc in favor of right-arm swing bowler Ryan Harris and Usman Khawaja took the No. 3 position from Ed Cowan, who made a first-ball duck and 14 as Australia lost by 14 runs at Trent Bridge on Sunday.

England fast bowler Steven Finn was replaced by allrounder Tim Bresnan, who is expected to offer the attack more control with an economy rate of 2.96 against Finn's 3.65. Bresnan will also add depth to England's batting.

Australia narrowly fell short of a ground-record run chase of 311 last week in a match that bore comparisons to another Ashes thriller at Edgbaston in 2005.

England is seeking to win the Ashes for the third straight series.

The match is scheduled to begin 15 minutes later than normal, at 1115 (GMT), as both teams will meet the Queen Elizabeth II before the start.

Teams:
England: Alastair Cook (captain), Joe Root, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson.

Australia: Shane Watson, Chris Rogers, Usman Khawaja, Michael Clarke (captain), Steve Smith, Phil Hughes, Brad Haddin, Ashton Agar, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Ryan Harris.