Cricket
Sri Lanka win toss, field
2011-06-28 14:05
London - Rain delayed the start of the first one-day international between England and Sri Lanka at The Oval on Tuesday.
No sooner had Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan won the toss and asked England to bat than rain arrived and kept the teams in the dressing rooms.
For the first game of a five-match series, Dilshan returned to the Sri Lankan side after recovering from a cracked thumb sustained in the recent Test series, aiming to build on his team's nine-wicket win in Saturday's lone Twenty20 match at Bristol.
The game marks the final international appearance of the 41-year old Sanath Jayasuriya, who wins his 445th one-day international cap to add to his 110 Test appearances.
England recalled Yorkshire's Tim Bresnan, now recovered from a calf injury, with Samit Patel missing out.
There was also a 50-over international debut for fast bowler Jade Dernbach -- who played in Saturday's Twenty20 -- at the ground where he plays his county cricket for Surrey.
The match is Alastair Cook's first in permanent charge of England's one-day side.
The Essex opener failed to make England's provisional 30 for the World Cup, and barring a brief series in Bangladesh last year, he has not played one-day international cricket since 2008.
However, following Andrew Strauss' retirement from the shorter form of the game, Cook has been parachuted into leading the side and has been earmarked as Strauss' successor at Test level.
The game also presents Cook with a chance to prove a point to former England captain Mike Atherton, who described him as a "plodder" on television at the weekend.
Teams
England: Craig Kieswetter (wkt), Alastair Cook (capt), Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Jade Dernbach
Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Thilina Kandamby, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekera, Suranga Lakmal, Suraj Randiv, Lasith Malinga
Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZ) and Richard Illingworth (ENG)
TV umpire: Rob Bailey (ENG)
Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS)