Centurion: Opener Shane Watson (136 not out) and skipper Ricky Ponting (111 not out) smashed brilliant centuries as Australia romped over England by nine wickets to book their place in the finals of the Champions Trophy.

The pair, who played probably the best innings of their respective careers, added 252 runs for the second wicket as the defending champions chased down the victory target of 258 in just 41.5 overs. The Aussies continued to torment England, whom they had recently given a 6-1 drubbing in a seven match ODI series in England, to earn their second shot at the Champions Trophy title.

Ponting and Watson, who in fact outscored his skipper on way to his third ODI hundred, put on an amazing display of attacking batting as they smashed the England bowlers all around the park. En route to his 28^th ODI hundred, Ponting also became the first Australian batsman to score 12,000 ODI runs.

The defending champions will now meet the winner of the Pakistan-New Zealand match to be played on Saturday in the title clash to be played on Monday at Centurion.

Earlier, England skipper Andrew Strauss won the toss and opted to bat first on a good batting wicket. But England didn’t have the start that they would have hoped for as they lost Strauss (14) in the second over itself with James Hopes taking a spectacular catch at square leg off the bowling of Peter Siddle. England got into further trouble as Owais Shah (0) feathered one to wicket-keeper Tim Paine off the bowling of Brett Lee in the very next over.

Paul Collingwood and Joe Denly then put together 55 runs for the third wicket to put the England innings back on track. Collingwood looked in sublime touch making 34 off just 30 balls with 5 boundaries and a six in his innings. But he couldn’t convert his start into a big innings falling caught behind the wicket as he tried to pull a Mitchell Johnson bouncer but could only manage to glove it to the wicket keeper.

Peter Siddle then removed the well set Denly (36) and Shane Watson got rid of debutante Steve Davies (5) and youngster Eoin Morgan (9) in quick succession to leave England struggling at 101-6 in the 21^st over. That brought Tim Bresnan and Luke Wright at the crease and the two batted brilliantly to take England to a respectable total.

Bresnan, who replaced Stuart Broad in the side, smashed a career best 80 off just 76 balls and added 107 runs for the 7^th wicket with Luke Wright (48) to lift England from 101-6 and take them past the 250 runs mark. Bresnan’s splendid knock included 11 boundaries while Wright smashed two fours and two sixes in his 48 off 68 balls.

Peter Siddle, who was named the ICC Emerging player of the year just a night before this match, got the breakthrough for Australia when he had Wright caught behind but England continued to counter-attack as Graeme Swann joined Bresnan to take England forward. Swann supported his partner well with some smart batting before running himself out on the first ball of the batting powerplay which cost England atleast 20-25 extra runs.

Bresnan’s excellent innings ended when he attempted an extravagant shot off Brett Lee but was beaten by his pace and saw his stumps getting rattled. The tail-enders couldn’t add much to the total and England were bowled out for 257 in 47.4 overs as they failed to utilise more than two overs which were also the poweplay overs. For Australia, Peter Siddle was the most successful bowler with figures of 3-55 while Lee (2-46) and Shane Watson (2-35) took two wickets each.

Australia got into early trouble as they began their chase of 257 to win as Tim Paine (4), who had an outstanding day behind the wickets with five catches, failed with the bat and edged an Onions out-swinger straight to wicket-keeper Davies with just 6 runs on the board. Skipper Ricky Ponting joined Shane Watson at the crease and they made sure that Australia got home comfortably and secured a place in the final for themselves.

Ponting was in sublime touch as he drove elegantly all around the park, hitting 12 graceful boundaries and a six in his 115-ball knock off 111 not out. Watson shrugged off a poor start to the tournament and struck form when it mattered. His aggressive 132-ball knock was laced with 10 fours and seven powerful sixes.

The duo flayed the English attack with utter disdain and ruthlessly dashed their hopes. Graham Onions (1-47) was the only successful bowler for England.

England’s Champions Trophy campaign has been one of their most successful ODI campaigns in recent times but in the end they could still just manage a 50-50 success rate in their four games. Australia, on the other hand, is well on their way to another ICC title and with this kind of form, they wouldn’t really worry about who they have to face in the final.

Brief Scores:

Australia 259 for 1 (Ponting 111*, Watson 136*) beat England 257 (Bresnan 80, Wright 48, Siddle 3-55) by nine wickets

Man of the Match: Shane Watson

Tagged with: Andrew Strauss, Australia, Brett Lee, Centurion, Champions Trophy, England, Graeme Swann, Graham Onions, Joe Denly, Luke Wright, Mitchell Johnson, New Zealand, Owais Shah, Pakistan, Paul Collingwood, Peter Siddle, Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson, Tim Bresnan, Tim Paine

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