JOIN USEngland captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat in the third and final Test against Pakistan at Southampton on Friday as the hosts recalled Jofra Archer.
England, 1-0 up in the series after a three-wicket win in the first Test at Old Trafford was followed by a weather-affected draw at Southampton, recalled fast bowler Archer in place of left-arm seamer Sam Curran.
"When Sam plays it obviously improves the batting, but we feel we've got the strength," Root told Sky Sports after winning the toss on a blustery morning.
"Jofra has had a week off. We want him to operate in short and sharp spells and we want him to bowl fast."
Root added: "I've told the team to throw everything into this game, we don't know when our next Test cricket will be so we want to finish on a high."
Pakistan, looking to avoid their first series defeat against England in 10 years, were unchanged.
"We would have batted first too, the track looks good," said Pakistan captain Azhar Ali.
"The first two hours will be important. It's a very important Test match for us. We want to give everything in this game."
This match marked the last of six scheduled Tests in the English season, which have all been played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus outbreak, with England defeating the West Indies 2-1 last month.
England are now set to play all of their planned 18 internationals, across all formats this season, despite the Covid-19 crisis.
Before the toss, England paceman Stuart Broad received a silver stump to commemorate taking 500 Test wickets, a feat he achieved against the West Indies, from outgoing England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves.
Meanwhile, Graves received a framed signed shirt from the England squad to mark the end of his five-year term as chairman.
Following the delays in the second Test, this match will see play allowed to start half an hour earlier than the scheduled 11:00am (1000 GMT) in a bid to make up for any overs lost to bad light.
"We discussed things ourselves, between the match officials, while the rain was falling last week and we have tried to find ways of maximising play," said match referee Chris Broad.
"If we lose play on any day during this Test, we'll discuss the situation at the end of the day and let people know when we might start play the following day."
The England team will wear black armbands on Friday as a mark of respect to uncapped squad member Dan Lawrence after the Essex batsman's mother died earlier this month.
Teams
England: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (capt), Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wkt), Chris Woakes, Dom Bess, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
Pakistan: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali (capt), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah
Umpires: Richard Illingworth (ENG), Michael Gough (ENG)
TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)