England suffer wobble

England suffered a mid-innings wobble after making a solid start to the pre-Ashes clash with Australia at Jaipur.

Openers Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell shared an 83-run stand - Bell was given a helping hand when Damien Martyn inexplicably dropped a dolly - after Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss in the must-win ICC Champions Trophy match.

At the halfway stage of their innings, England were well positioned on 109 for two but slipped to 118 for four by the 30th over with Andrew Strauss out for 56.

Ponting's decision to bat first was influenced by the potential dew later this evening and Australia also selected fast bowler Mitchell Johnson at the expense of Brad Hogg because of concerns that spinners will struggle to grip a wet ball.

Both openers attacked Glenn McGrath, who should have profited when a checked drive from Bell looped to mid-off, only for Martyn to make a botched attempt.

The breakthrough did not arrive until the 19th over, in fact - at the same point last weekend England had lost half their side - when Shane Watson's second ball was hit straight to cover by Bell (43).

Surprisingly, given captain Andrew Flintoff's commitment to batting at number three during this tournament, it was Kevin Pietersen who came in at first wicket down.

But he did not stay long as, having received a flier which struck the splice of the bat from short of a length the previous delivery, he nicked Johnson behind.

That saw Flintoff join Strauss in the middle but he holed out to Mike Hussey for four before Andrew Symonds had Strauss caught behind.