England bat in Women's World Cup final

England captain Heather Knight won the toss and elected to bat against India in the Women's World Cup final at Lord's on Sunday.

Both teams were unchanged from their respective semi-final wins with England having narrowly beaten South Africa by two wickets, and India stunning reigning champions Australia by 36 runs on the back of Harmanpreet Kaur's remarkable 171 not out.

"We want runs on the board," said Knight at the toss.

"There's more grass on the wicket which will help it come on nicely. It's worked well for us in the competition.

"It's a special day, whatever happens. The support has been brilliant, hopefully it continues today.

"There might be a bit of rain about three o'clock (1400 GMT) but hopefully it'll clear up."

Meanwhile India captain Mithali Raj, whose side beat England in their opening pool match, said: "We would have batted. It is good conditions, the seamers are back into form so I'm sure they will use the conditions.

"I reckon there's a lot of runs in the wicket but there's something for the fast bowlers and spinners in the later half."

Raj added: "These girls are fearless. They're very confident about the game and stepping up when it matters."

England are bidding to win their fourth Women's World Cup in the event's 11-edition history.

India have yet to win the World Cup and this just their second appearance in a final after they were beaten by Australia in the 2005 title-decider in Centurion, South Africa.

Teams

England: Lauren Winfield, Tammy Beaumont, Sarah Taylor (wkt), Heather Knight (capt), Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson, Katherine Brunt, Jenny Gunn, Laura Marsh, Anya Shrubsole, Alex Hartley

India: Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Raut, Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, Sushma Verma (wkt), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav

Umpires: Shaun George (RSA), Gregory Brathwaite (WIS)

TV umpire: Paul Wilson (AUS)

Match referee: Steve Bernard (AUS)