It is a rematch of the 2017 final in fine conditions on a fresh pitch at the Bay Oval, which both captains noted looked a little dry

Toss England Women chose to bowl vs India Women

England opted to bowl in their World Cup match against India at Mount Maunganui. England named an unchanged side to that which lost to South Africa by three wickets on Monday, meaning Danni Wyatt retains her place at the top of the order instead of Lauren Winfield-Hill. India selected the same side which defeated West Indies by 155 runs in Hamilton at the weekend.

Play was set for this rematch of the 2017 final in fine conditions on a fresh pitch at the Bay Oval, which both captains noted at the toss looked a little dry.

The best way for England, the defending champions who are winless in the tournament so far, to retain some control over their own destiny would be to win this and their remaining three matches, whereas another defeat would leave them reliant on other, unlikely, results going their way to reach the semi-finals. India, meanwhile, can move level on points with second-placed South Africa, who will have a game in hand, with victory in this match.

Heather Knight, the England captain, was upbeat about her side’s chances after the toss.

“We’ve been really close without playing our best cricket and it feels like today is going to be the day that it clicks,” Knight told the host broadcaster. “I just want to see lots of fight from the girls, lots of skill, we’ve certainly got skill in this team so we’re going to come out fighting and keep it very simple and do what we do well.

“There’s always pressure in World Cups. We’re obviously in a position where we don’t want to be but we’re still in it, 100% we’re still in it, and we’re still going to keep fighting.”

Mithali Raj said she was happy to bat first and backed her side to put their experience to good use five years on from the last 50-over World Cup.

“With the sort of experience and exposure this team has from the T20 World Cup also – being finalists in the T20 World Cup – and having a lot of players who played in the Big Bash League around the globe I think getting that experience in use for today’s game is very important,” she said.

England 1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Danni Wyatt, 3 Heather Knight (capt), 4 Nat Sciver, 5 Amy Jones (wk), 6 Sophia Dunkley, 7 Katherine Brunt, 8 Sophie Ecclestone, 9 Kate Cross, 10 Charlie Dean, 11 Anya Shrubsole

India 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Yastika Bhatia, 3 Mithali Raj (capt), 4 Deepti Sharma, 5 Harmanpreet Kaur, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Sneh Rana, 8 Pooja Vastrakar, 9 Jhulan Goswami, 10 Meghna Singh, 11 Rajeshwari Gayakwad