Vaughan and Trescothick fall early

West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl first
Scorecard

Brian Lara's bold decision to bowl first was instantly vindicated as Ian Bradshaw ripped out the big wickets of Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan in his first two overs. Suddenly, England's fortunes were in the hands of Andrew Strauss and the debutant Geraint Jones, who boast eight caps between them.

Trescothick was the first to go, well caught by Lara who had positioned himself expertly just in front of square on the leg side. Bradshaw's fourth ball was duly steered straight into Lara's midriff, and Trescothick was gone without scoring.

Jones was greeted with a late-seaming snorter that whistled over his middle stump, but it was in Bradshaw's next over that the next wicket fell. Vaughan got himself in a tangle as he too attempted a flick to leg, and Ramnaresh Sarwan held onto a steepling top-edge at mid-on (2 for 2). At that stage, Bradshaw had grabbed two wickets without conceding a run, but Jones dented his figures with an emphatic carve through point to open his one-day account.

West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl first
Scorecard

After two false starts, the NatWest Series is finally set to get underway, as England and West Indies face each other at Trent Bridge. Having named an unchanged side, Brian Lara won the toss and asked England to bat first, perhaps to take advantage of the moisture that remains in the pitch from yesterday's downpours.

England, who have a huge hole to fill since the withdrawal of Andrew Flintoff, have given recalls to Anthony McGrath and Rikki Clarke, who was not named in the original squad, with Ian Blackwell also included to bolster Michael Vaughan's bowling options. Vaughan and Trescothick are reunited at the top of the order, with Geraint Jones set to make his ODI debut at No. 3, after Thursday's washout.

For both sides, it is a welcome break from the norm, after their recent series in the Caribbean was similarly blighted by the weather. But where yesterday and on Thursday there had been thick banks of cloud, today the sun is bursting through and despite a small threat of showers in the afternoon, a full day's play is in prospect.

"There's a good feeling in the camp," said Andrew Strauss, who scored back-to-back half-centuries on the last two occasions that the teams met, in St Lucia and Barbados last month. "It's going to be a very evenly matched series." Strauss has now cemented himself a role as England's Test-match opener, although he is content to bat in the middle-order in one-day cricket, to provide some solidity alongside Paul Collingwood. "It's my responsibility to be there at the end and see the guys home. You don't want to leave it to the guys at Nos. 8, 9 and 10."

With Trescothick recovered from a twisted ankle, Michael Powell has returned to county duty with Glamorgan, while Robert Key must sit and wait his turn for a little longer yet.

England 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Geraint Jones (wk), 4 Andrew Strauss, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Anthony McGrath, 7 Ian Blackwell, 8 Rikki Clarke, 9 Darren Gough, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steve Harmison.

West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Dwayne Smith, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Brian Lara (capt), 6 Ricardo Powell, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Ian Bradshaw, 11 Jermaine Lawson.