Until the match against Sri Lanka, England was one of the favourites to win the World Cup.
It was due to many reasons like home advantage and their recent records while playing in England. They whitewashed Australia 5-0 in 2018 when Aussies toured England. Furthermore, they won against Pakistan 4-1 in 2016 and 4-0 in 2019 just before the World Cup. However, in this World Cup, England lost against both these teams.
Against Pakistan, they were favourites as they had just won the series against them. However, against Australia, there was the pressure of qualification to semis after the loss against Sri Lanka. Moreover, Pakistan and Bangladesh started competing for the fourth position in the points table where England are.
In both these matches against Australia and Pakistan, they elected to chase. Yes, England did chase big totals in the past against Australia and Pakistan in their respective ODI series. However, due to changes in the nature of the tracks and pressure of the World Cup they were unable to chase this time.
In this World Cup, England has chased four times and out of these, they have won only once against the West Indies. Further, they have never lost a match while batting first in this tournament thus far. Whenever they have lost the game while chasing, their openers failed to provide a strong start, which is very crucial when a team is chasing. Besides, there are chances of Jason Roy returning from his injury into the playing XI.
Their next match is against India, who is unbeaten so far in this mega event. India has played five matches (excluding the New Zealand match) until now and they have batted first in their last four matches. Therefore, against India, it would be better for England to win the toss and bat first.
Yes, the records of this World Cup at Birmingham shows a different picture. But, as it is a knockout game for England, it would be better to bat first without any scoreboard pressure. Further, this will put India in a situation that they have faced only once in this World Cup.
Therefore, whoever wins the toss in this match should bat first.
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