SOUTHAMPTON : England: West Indies captain Darren Sammy won the toss and elected to field against England in the first one-day international here on Saturday.
England's Ian Bell was passed fit to open in place of Kevin Pietersen, now retired from one-day internationals, after top-edging a pull into his face during routine throw-downs in the indoor nets here on Friday.
Bell suffered a gash to his chin and was taken to hospital where 10 stitches were inserted into the wound. But before the toss he was given the all-clear.
West Indies star opener Chris Gayle, who had been due to end his 15-month exile from international cricket by playing in this match following a dispute with Caribbean cricket officials, was ruled out with a left shin injury.
It was a major blow to both the tourists and the thousands of fans who'd bought tickets in the hope of seeing Gayle, one of the world's leading limited overs batsmen.
Dwayne Smith took his place at the top of the order, with Marlon Samuels coming in at number four.
England, who beat West Indies 2-0 in a three-Test series concluded Monday, opted to play four seamers after leaving out spinner Samit Patel
England: Alastair Cook (captain), Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steven Finn, James Anderson
West Indies: Dwayne Smith, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Russell, Darren Sammy (captain), Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) and Richard Kettleborough (ENG),TV umpire: Tony Hill (NZ)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZ)
