28 January,2018 03:02 PM IST | Perth | AFP
Australia won the toss and chose to bowl in Sunday's fifth and final one-day international against England in Perth. The match, instead of being held at the famous WACA Ground across the Swan River, is being played at the city's new Optus Stadium as part of its official opening. The sell-out crowd of 55,000 will be a record for a cricket match in Perth. The match itself is a dead rubber as England, thrashed 4-0 in the preceding Ashes, hold an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series, with Australia winning their first match in Adelaide on Friday.
The home side made two changes to the team which had England 5-8 at one stage in Adelaide, with paceman Pat Cummins -- who claimed four wickets in that match and did some of the early damage -- sidelined by a hamstring strain. He was replaced by left-armer Mitchell Starc, while batsman Cameron White may have played his last match for Australia after being dropped for Glenn Maxwell. England rested pacemen Chris Woakes and Mark Wood. Australian captain Steve Smith said the decision to bowl first was driven by the pitch being an unknown quantity. "None of us have played here before and we don't know what it's going to do, so it gives us a chance to have a look at it first," he said. "Hopefully we can take a few early ones (wickets) again. "It is great to be playing in the first event here." England captain Eoin Morgan said he would have liked his team to bowl first.
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