Jonny Bairstow will open for England in the first one-day international against West Indies, captain Eoin Morgan announced Monday. Tuesday's match at Manchester's Old Trafford is England's first ODI since their Champions Trophy semi-final defeat by eventual tournament winners Pakistan in Cardiff in June. That match saw regular ODI opener Jason Roy dropped after a run of low scores, with Bairstow making 43 after being brought in at the top of the order.
Surrey batsman Roy was out for a golden duck in Saturday's lone Twenty20 international against West Indies at Chester-le-Street and Morgan confirmed Test wicket-keeper Bairstow would open on Tuesday. "Jonny is going to open with Alex Hales," Morgan told reporters at Old Trafford. "We feel Jonny deserves a chance. He's been waiting in the wings for quite a while now. "This is an opportunity to make the opening position his."
Bairstow's innings was one of the few crumbs of comfort England could take from a convincing eight-wicket defeat by Pakistan at Cardiff's Sophia Gardens. England won 3-0 in a limited overs series in the Caribbean in March and were 2-1 victors on home soil in a recent Test campaign against West Indies.
But neither of those contests featured the likes of star batsmen Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, now back in the fold after a bitter dispute with Cricket West Indies officials. "They're a strong outfit, (and) obviously have some additions, changes from the Test team - so they're not a side we take lightly," said Morgan. "A lot of our focus over the last couple of years has been on ourselves.
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