England win toss and bat in Stanford finale

England captain Kevin Pietersen won the toss and elected to bat in the Twenty20 match for 20 million dollars against the Stanford Superstars here on Saturday.

England, who've won both their warm-up matches batting first, opted to play a second spinner in Graeme Swann and leave out pace bowler James Anderson at the Stanford Cricket Ground.

The Stanford side featured dynamic opening batsman Andre Fletcher, who thrashed Middlesex for a quick 90 on Thursday.

Fast bowler Jerome Taylor was recalled after being rested for the Middlesex match while the Superstars, a team made up of players from the West Indies, also opted for an extra spinner in the tall Sulieman Benn.

Each member of the winning side will receive one million dollars each from series benefactor Allen Stanford, at whose ground this match is being played.

In all the total prize money, which includes payments to the West Indies and England boards as well as cash for players in the winning squad who didn't make the final XI, adds up to 20 million dollars.

Teams

Stanford Superstars: Chris Gayle (capt), Andre Fletcher (wkt), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Sylvester Joseph, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Dave Mohammed, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Sulieman Benn.

England: Kevin Pietersen (capt), Ian Bell, Matt Prior (wkt), Owais Shah, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood, Samit Patel, Luke Wright, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steve Harmison.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS), Rudi Koertzen (RSA),

TV umpire: Steve Davis (AUS),

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)