Mathews starts fourth World Cup as England bat

England skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and chose to bat in a World Cup clash against Sri Lanka on Thursday in what is almost a make-or-break showdown for both sides.

They each have just one win and three defeats after four games with their chances of making the semi-finals on a knife-edge.

England have made three changes to the team thumped by 229 runs last time out against South Africa with Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone and Chris Woakes getting the nod.

Harry Brook and Gus Atkinson are dropped while fast bowler Reece Topley was ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a broken finger.

Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions, welcome back veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews who is playing in his fourth World Cup.

Mathews was called up to the squad to replace the injured Matheesha Pathirana.

England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (capt/wkt), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (capt/wkt), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka, Lahiru Kumara

Umpires: Adrian Holdstock (RSA) and Chris Brown (NZL)

Match Referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)

/KN/