England v Pakistan: Cricket World Cup 2023 – live

England XI: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (capt, wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid.

Conditions at Kolkata: black soil, lots of cracks, dry, not much live grass. Dinesh Karthick says pitch will turn, tricky to bat.

Jos Buttler, forced smile and all, announces an unchanged team: “It is always nice to end that losing streak, we want to leave India with our heads held high.” And on David Willey, who plays his last international game today – “He’s been a great performer over a long period of time.”

Babar Azam wanted to bat because of net run rate – Pakistan’s theoretical push for the semis will now mean knocking off whatever England score in a sprinkling of overs.

Our man on the ground tells me that England met Mick Jagger last night – insert Stones gag here.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka , have been suspended by the ICC over “government interference” – which, as many have pointed out, compares strangely with the treatment of Afghanistan, whose women’s team no longer exists after the Taliban takeover.

Ali Martin’s ode to the band:

Once more unto the breach, dear friends. The roundabout slowly comes to a stop, and very soon both England and Pakistan can get off: battered and bruised. But first, they must play one last match. Pakistan can theoretically still reach the semi-finals, and knock New Zealand out, if they beat England by 290 runs – which, if it happened, would blow the final gasket on England’s disastrous campaign. England have no prizes to grab at, but a win would add a little honey to the saucer of sour milk, and could be added to the victories over Bangladesh and the Netherlands.

Many of those pulling on the dark blue of England won’t play another 50-over World Cup -if there is another 50-over World Cup. And who knows whether Babar Azam’s captaincy of Pakistan has long to run. All in all, a match to savour – careers to appreciate – just don’t mention what both teams came here to do.

Play starts at 8.30am GMT – a final chance to chew over what happened to one of cricket’s surethings in the hurly-burly of a World Cup campaign in India.