England captain Eoin Morgan is relishing his side's status as the favourites ©Getty Images

England captain Eoin Morgan is relishing his side's status as the favourites as the host nation aims to win the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup for the first time.

The home side open the tournament against South Africa at The Oval in London tomorrow with the expectations of the nation on their shoulders.

England are the top-ranked one-day international team on the ICC standings and have twice broken the record for the highest total made in the 50-over format.

But they struggled at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as they were knocked out at the first round stage.

"The favourites tag is there for a reason," Morgan told BBC Sport.

England open their campaign against South Africa at The Oval tomorrow ©Getty Images
England open their campaign against South Africa at The Oval tomorrow ©Getty Images

"The level of performances that we've produced, particularly at home over the last two years in particular, probably lends itself to us being favourites.

"That might change throughout the tournament; we'll more than likely come up against some difficult challenges and difficult games that we'll lose and might have to come back from, but going into the tournament, it certainly sits fine with us."

Defending champions Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies are the other nations competing in the 10-team tournament.

It is four teams fewer than the 2011 and 2015 competitions.

They will play each other in a round-robin format and the top four will progress to the semi-finals, with the final scheduled to take place at Lord's in London on July 14.