Australia thrashed England by nine wickets in the semi final of the ICC Champions Trophy, continuing their domination over England in one day cricket.
England had managed just 257 all out with the bat, Tim Bresnan making an impressive 80 before falling to Brett Lee. Luke Wright enjoyed a good partnership of 107 runs with Bresnan, making 48 himself, while only Collingwood (34) and Denly (36) could manage decent scores.
The Australian’s lost a quick wicket when Paine was caught by Davies off Onions bowling and at 6 for 1 England’s chances looked very good indeed.
Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson had different ideas and between them made 252 not out to easily surpass the English total and make their way into the final.
It was another deserved victory for Australia both Ponting and Watson relished the challenge and controlled the English bowlers with ease. Ponting comes in for a lot of stick particularly back in Australia when the team are not winning games, but he has proved himself to be among the best batsmen in the world over the years and today’s performance was no exception.
The 34 year old Australian hit his first 50 off 58 balls and his unbeaten 111 was his 28th century in one day internationals. He also became the first Australian and only the third player in the world to pass 12,000 runs in ODIs, an incredible milestone for an incredible player.
Memories of England’s win over hosts South Africa are already in the dim and distant past, the loss to the Australians in seven out of eight one day encounters really means that things still need fixing in the England camp.
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