England opt to bat in the fourth test

11th August (CRICKETNMORE) - England Captain Alastair Cook won the toss and has opted to bat first in the fourth test against Pakistan at Kennington Oval, London.

Alastair Cook (England Captain) After Winning the Toss:

We are going to bat first. Had a long thought about it, this is a good batting wicket. First hour is gonna be hard work of course, it will turn a bit too. We found the balance we would have liked to at the moment. I don't think it will reverse much, might do on day 4 and 5. If it happens, it does, but firstly we gonna focus on today now and get as many runs as possible (in response to whether they will be distracted by the impending No.1 ranking). We are unchanged.'

Check LIVE SCORE of the Match

Misbah-Ul-Haq (Pakistan captain) 

We were also planning to bat first. Overall, I think it's a good pitch, we have to bowl in the right areas and trying to get them early. Mohammad Hafeez and Rahat Ali are out, Wahab Riaz back in. Iftikhar Ahmed debuts for us. If the bowlers get tired that really hurts us, we want to have someone who can bowl in between and rotate the bowlers. With 4 bowlers it's gonna be difficult, an extra bowler will help me and Yasir also.'

England vs Pakistan 4th test at Oval Squads (Playing XI)

Pakistan: Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq(c), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed(w), Iftikhar Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir, Sohail Khan

England: Alastair Cook(c), Alex Hales, Joe Root, James Vince, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow(w), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, James Anderson

Vishal Bhagat