England win toss and bat first in third test

MANCHESTER, Jun 7 (Reuters) England won the toss and elected to bat first in the third test against West Indies at Old Trafford today.

England, 1-0 up and seeking a series-clinching victory in the four-match rubber, named the same team that won the second test by an innings and 283 runs last week.

West Indies made three changes from that Headingley test, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul replacing captain and fellow Guyanese middle-order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, who has returned home with a shoulder injury.

All-rounder Darren Sammy was given his test debut after replacing batsman Sylvester Joseph and pace bowler Fidel Edwards came in for Daren Powell.

The first test was drawn at Lord's, while the fourth and final test next Friday is at Durham's Chester-le-Street ground.

Teams: England: Michael Vaughan (captain), Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Matt Prior (wicketkeeper), Liam Plunkett, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar, Ryan Sidebottom.

West Indies: Daren Ganga (captain), Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wicketkeeper), Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards, Corey Collymore.

REUTERS BJR HT1545