The Yorkshire pair of Harry Brook and Jonny Bairstow are strolling to the middle, flanked by two rows of flag-waving children.

Trent Boult is marking out his run-up. We're almost ready.

James Anderson
England bowler on BBC Test Match Special

Image source, Getty Images

I'm excited to see Trent Boult back in action today.

Ffion Wynne
BBC Sport at The Ageas Bowl

The sun is out, and the fans at Southampton have been rewarded for their patience.

It was a remarkably quick mopping-up operation from the ground staff too, so fair play to them.

Dawid Malan is absent after the birth of his second child, while Adil Rashid has mild calf tightness and Jason Roy still recovering from his back spasm - but both are being treated as precautionary.

Still no sign of Mark Wood as England go with three left-arm seamers, while Trent Boult plays his 100th ODI for New Zealand.

New Zealand were comfortable victors in Friday's opening ODI in Cardiff, cruising home for an eight-wicket victory despite England setting them 292 to win.

Unbeaten centuries from Devon Conway (111) and Daryl Mitchell (118) put on 180 for the third wicket saw the Black Caps home with 4.2 overs to spare.

Ben Stokes made 52 on his return to ODI cricket, while captain Jos Buttler top-scored for England with 72.

England make three changes from the first ODI as Jonny Bairstow has overcome his shoulder niggle to come back in at the top of the order. Moeen Ali and Sam Curran are also back in. Dawid Malan, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid drop out.

England: Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (captain & wk), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, David Willey, Gus Atkinson, Reece Topley.

It is also three changes for New Zealand as Finn Allen, Mitchell Santner and Trent Boult come in for Henry Nicholls, Kyle Jamieson and Lockie Ferguson.

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (captain & wk), Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Trent Boult.

England captain Jos Buttler: "We would've looked to do the same thing.

The reduced game: "It will be the skill of the guys to try and work out what a good score.

What did you make of the defeat at Cardiff?: "We will be better for the run out, we did a lot of things well the other night, but there's a lot of basics we could do better.

Team news?: "We have three changes, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali come in.

How are Jason Roy and Mark Wood?: "We hope so. Jason has a small issue with his back, he was close today. Woody is getting better and better each day, we want to use them in this series but don't want to risk them."

New Zealand captain Tom Latham: "We're going to have a bowl, with the weather around it'll be good to wait and see what we have to chase.

"It was a bit of a long trip from Durham. A nice performance a couple of days ago, it would be good to back that up today.

"We bowled well there, the guys at the back end assessed the right options and a big partnership at the back end put the pressure on."

It's the same result as Cardiff on Friday - New Zealand captain Tom Latham has won the toss and has put England into bat.

Well, hello there.

Hope you've had a nice break, because I assume you're here with us for the duration now.

Yes, the heavy skies have lifted in Southampton and the covers are off. We've got a game on - it's going to be 34 overs a side, with bowlers limited to seven overs apiece and the powerplay running to the same length.

A toss is imminent.

With the rain still falling in Southampton, we're going to close this live page for now.

We still hold hope for some play later in the day, so we'll hopefully see you back here later.

Bye for now.

Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu inspired her side to a T20 series win against England and her early departure in yesterday's ODI was a massive blow to her side's hopes.

She speaks to BBC Sport about her ambitions for women's cricket in her country.

Image source, Getty Images

Over in Colombo, India opener Shubman Gill has brought up his half-century off just 37 balls in the Asia Cup tie against Pakistan.

His captain Rohit Sharma has just smashed successive sixes off Pakistan leg-spinner Shabdab Khan.

He's up to 44 off 41 balls and India are 96-0 off 13 overs after being put in to bat.

Follow the game with our scorecard.

Ffion Wynne
BBC Sport at The Ageas Bowl

There's not much news from here, other than the fact that it is still raining.

There are some very brave, or optimistic, fans still in their seats but most are huddled underneath umbrellas or piling up high in the sheltered parts of the stands.

The full covers are still on, so I think it'll be a while.

While we wait for the rain to subside in Southampton, why not take a read of Matt Henry's report on Edgbaston's Go Green initiative.

Various initiatives were in place for the England and New Zealand's T20 last Sunday, including powering the stadium exclusively with renewable energy.

Meanwhile, England were back to winning ways in the first match of the women's ODI series, thrashing Sri Lanka by seven wickets at Durham.

Heather Knight's side fielded three debutants with each impressing. Seamers Mahika Gaur and Lauren Filer took three wickets apiece, before Maia Bouchier hit the winning runs.

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile, out in Colombo we've got one of the great sporting rivalries as Pakistan and India face each other in the Asia Cup.

Pakistan won the toss and put their opponents into bat. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubnam Gill are unbeaten on 42-0 after seven overs.

There's a bit of rain in the air as the UK's September heatwave begins to reach its conclusion.

We've studied various rain radars and we're pretty confident it's only a passing shower, so we shouldn't have too long to wait for a toss.

In the meantime, five County Championship games have got going with teams fighting for promotion and relegation towards the season end.

Join our colleagues there.

25 days.

Start chalking them off. That's all that's left until these sides line-up in Ahmedabad for the opening match of their World Cup campaigns.

Between now and then these squads face off three more times. New Zealand struck first blood on Friday, hammering England in the opening match of the series. Can England reassert themselves today in Southampton?

Let's find out.