England

Eoin Morgan's side have made a purposeful start to the tournament on home soil and demonstrated why they top the ICC ODI rankings in Friday's eight-wicket thrashing of West Indies.

It is in stark contrast to the fortunes of their next opponents, who are languishing at the foot of the table without a point from their opening four matches.

After previous concerns over the likes of Jos Buttler and Mark Wood, managing injuries has been England's biggest obstacle.

Tournament hosts and favourites England were beaten by 14 runs at Trent Bridge on Monday as Pakistan ended a run of 11 straight losses in completed ODIs – a sequence that included a 4-0 series thrashing at the hands of Eoin Morgan's men and a 5-0 whitewash in the United Arab Emirates against Australia.

The ICC Champions Trophy holders were embarrassingly bounced out for 105 in a seven-wicket win for West Indies in their first game of the tournament but showed what they are capable of at the same venue three days later.

Mohammad Hafeez top scored with 84 from only 62 balls after Jason Roy dropped him on 14, which summed up a characteristically below-par showing from the hosts in the field as Pakistan posted 348-8.

A late addition to Eoin Morgan's squad after becoming eligible for England in March, Barbados-born paceman Archer showed why there had been such a clamour for his selection on Thursday, while Ben Stokes also shone and produced an early contender for catch of the tournament.

After the hosts were limited to 311-8 when they looked well set to post a bigger total, Archer swiftly undermined South Africa's reply, taking two wickets in a fine opening spell and forcing Hashim Amla to retire hurt as a vicious bouncer struck the veteran's helmet grille.

Host nation England are the ICC's number one team as they approach the upcoming tournament, looking to claim the trophy for the very first time.

But Stokes warned that unlike in longer series' where defeats can be rectified, England cannot afford any slip ups.

"All the nations come together over a certain period and whichever team performs best over that time gets to lift the trophy," he told Omnisport, speaking courtesy of Red Bull. "You want to be that team.

Lock Itoje has returned to Saracens to continue his recovery from a knee injury after being left out of Eddie Jones' 31-man training squad ahead of Saturday's match at Twickenham.

The 24-year-old sustained the problem in England's tournament opener against Ireland on February 2 and was thought to be in the running for a return against Italy until he limped out of a training session last week.

The 27-year-old, who has suffered a string of injuries over the past few seasons, starts at 12 in the absence of injured Ben Te'o.

Elliot Daly is preferred at full-back to Mike Brown, who is left out of the 23-strong matchday squad.

George Kruis partners fellow Saracen Maro Itoje in the second row.

Owen Farrell starts at fly-half, with Henry Slade partnering Tuilagi in midfield and George Ford on the bench, while flankers Tom Curry and Mark Wilson make their first Six Nations appearances.

The full-back was dropped during the Test series defeat to South Africa in June and was overlooked by Eddie Jones for the November internationals.

Harlequins stalwart Brown is determined to add to his 72 caps and will discover on Thursday whether he has been selected by Jones.

"Obviously I'm massively disappointed not to be involved, because I'm desperate to play for England." the 33-year-old, speaking on behalf of Land Rover at an off-road driving event, told Omnisport.

Underhill injured his ankle playing for Bath in the English Premiership last weekend and is reportedly likely to be miss at least four weeks.

England plays Ireland in the Six nations opener on February 2 in Dublin, putting Underhill under a cloud for that match.

The 22-year-old was a breakout star for England in his debut Test year, playing nine Tests and becoming an important player for coach Eddie Jones.

Bath released an update on his fitness on Thursday morning (AEDT), saying Underhill would visit a specialist to confirm his prognosis later this week.

The All Blacks face England for the first time in four years this weekend at a sold-out Twickenham.

Hansen has further raised expectations for the highly-anticipated clash by declaring it bigger than last year's British and Irish Lions tour.

While the 59-year-old would be open to the idea of more regular meetings between the two countries, he has concerns about the knock-on effect.

"As long as it doesn't create more logjams in the calendar," replied Hansen, when asked if he would like to face England more often.